


Alsatia

by Siana



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: I might have been wrong about that major character death warning, I've put in a character death warning but it's not that bad, M/M, The basic idea is that instead of an industrial revolution, There will be death, There's not enough plot cement to fill al the plot holes, a lot of random mythology thrown into the mix, a total and utter mess, also expect plot holes, and now magic is everywhere, and philosophy, and there are two story lines that are kind of parallel but not, because this story is a mess, but everything is pretty much the same than our world, except magic, if that makes sense, it's just a requirement of the setting, kind of, like no one important dies on screen, of canon characters, onscreen, seriously, shit gets fucked up, there was a magical revolution, this is a mess, uhhhh, who ever thought this was a good idea, you will see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 12:46:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 140,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4706546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siana/pseuds/Siana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alsatia - <em>a place where the law cannot reach</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shigehiro I

**Author's Note:**

> I recommend listening to [Galneryus - Alsatia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb0GTKfdqSI) while reading, that's the song that inspired the title.
> 
> This will be upated bi-monthly, on the 1st and 15th of each month. Chapters will be sufficiently long to make up for the delay.

The shop is small and dingy, huddled into the corner of a back alley somewhere in Eastern Europe. The small sign etched into the doorframe - an hourglass lying on its side - marks it as catering to a specific kind of clientele. Magic is well-explained these days, but even so, there are certain arts that remain largely in obscurity.

The inside is dusty and lit dimly by a lonely cobwebbed lamp. It is, as the rest of the shop’s gloomy appearance, merely a front to deter the uninitiated from putting their noses where they are not wanted. The magic that can be obtained here is different from the magic that has become so common these days - sterile and industrialized, modified for maximum function.

The shelves lining the walls are filled to the brim with odd items, gems, potions, chalk, little trinkets with no apparent use, dried herbs, pouched with unknown contents, hex bags, the list goes on and on. Other shelves are lined with books and scrolls, the combined knowledge contained enough to bring down mountains. The air is permeated with the smell of herbs and dust, of earth and the spice of magic potency.

The shop’s owner frowns sits perched on an old, worn chair behind the counter. He looks up when the bells above his doors jingle, announcing the customer that just entered. The man is small and cloaked in a dark hood that obscures his face with shadows. The clerk eyes him warily. He has never seen him before. In his line of business, strangers can mean danger as much as they can mean prosperity.

The stranger scans the shelves with a patient eye. There’s a real scryer’s orb next to a handful of fake phoenix feathers. A flask with liquefied gold and a blue stone that is cut in the classical tear shape of a water stone but is nothing more than a sapphire. The clerk has a real water stone in the back - its worth immeasurable, but that is a secret only few are privy to.

It takes the stranger mere minutes to assess the whole of the shop. What he searches is not within the main room so he approaches the counter. A pale hand places something on the counter - a piece of paper, worn with age and torn at the edges with a pencil sketch of a leaf on it. The drawing itself would be nothing out of the ordinary - not especially artistic - but it’s the symbol drawn beneath it that catches the clerks attention. It is the same symbol that adorns his doorframe.

“We don’t…” He starts but then he meets the cloaked men’s eyes. They’re odd those eyes. The eyes itself are the color of an icy blue winter sky, deep and consuming. The clerk feels the ancient power that lurks behind the icy mirror of these eyes, can feel it grasp for his essence and he pulls away his gaze with exerting effort.

He has heard the rumors of a man cloaked in shadows. He has believed them to be superstitions, a children’s story blown into a larger than life myth. He had been wrong. Without another word the man turns to walk into his backroom, where his true treasures lie.

He comes back and places a small glass sphere on the counter. The stranger eyes it for a moment. His face doesn’t show a single emotion, but then he pulls out a thick wad of cash and drops it next to the sketch. The shop owner picks up the cash and counts it, by the time he has assessed the worth, the man is gone, drawing, sphere and all. The magical residue in the air, from countless spells and experiments swirls restlessly, drawn to fill the void the man has cut with his presence.

He hadn’t advertised the leaf. It was already old when he got it - one of his suppliers had found it by accident and brought it in, unknowing of the treasure he held in his hands. A young leaf is invaluable, but they are fragile things that start decaying the moment they are separated from their parent tree. He’d delayed the decay with the containment sphere by maybe a few hours, but ultimately the forces of time are stronger. This leaf was at the end of its lifespan, nearly worthless. He had put it in the back to die in peace, not planning on selling it at all.

Yet the stranger had known it was here, barely hours after he had received it himself.

No, the rumors weren’t exaggerating. If anything, they were understating the true nature of the beast. The clerk sits down in his chair as his legs are shaking with belated fear.

Ogiwara Shigehiro watches as Kuroko Tetsuya steps out of the store. There is an unusual sense of haste to his movements and Shigehiro pushes himself away from the wall he had been leaning against.

“Found it?” He asks with a smile. There is no change on Kuroko’s face, nor any other indicator that he has heard Shigehiro. But he holds out his arm for Shigehiro to take and that is answer enough.

Kuroko’s form seems to waver for a moment as shadows emerge from his skin and the fabric of the cloak. It is an optical illusion; the shadows aren’t real shadows but something entirely different. The surrounding light is sucked in by the void and appears as shadows, but if Shigehiro were to touch it carelessly, he would be sucked in as well. The void convulses and then a soft golden light emits from somewhere in its depths. The trapped translocation spell takes effect a moment later, yanking them both into the darkness.

Shigehiro has done this countless times, but he doubts he’ll ever get used to it. There is a moment of complete disorientation and nausea and Shigehiro has to force a few calming breaths before he can see clearly again. Kuroko, of course, is unaffected.

They’ve appeared in what seems to be a swamp, but Shigehiro can’t tell in what part of the world. The air smells like rotten eggs and dead things. Somewhere a toad croaks loudly and insistently.

He wouldn’t be surprised if there were at least a few corpses hidden in the swamp’s murky waters. It’s that kind of place.

Kuroko doesn’t take the time to admire their surroundings. He has opened the portal to the time weaver’s hidden dwelling, its door anchored somewhere between a moss-covered tree trunk and an equally overgrown boulder. Sesha’s choice of doorstep has always been eccentric, but all the same effective in securing her secrecy. No one would think to look here.

Since Kuroko has already stepped through the portal, Shigehiro doesn’t lose any more time before he follows. The opening is nothing more than a shimmering thread in the air, but when Shigehiro touches a hand to it he feels the familiar pull and is once again yanked into the darkness. Only this time he crosses between dimensions.

The portal opens into a sub dimension - a room, cut into time and space, existing on its own rules and laws. Simply put, it is magic in a whole different league than a mere human could ever dream of casting.

They land in front of a door that seems to hang in a big space of nothing. There is nothing else around, not even ground beneath their feet. It is a disorienting experience, but Shigehiro has gotten used to it throughout the many visits to this place.

Kuroko doesn’t knock before he opens the door. Knocking to alert a time weaver to their presence is simply redundant. Sesha has forecast their path and therefore knows when to expect their visits.

Behind the door is a room, although the word ‘room’ doesn’t quite manage to give credit to the actual reality. The walls and the furniture seem to have grown from tree bark, but the floor is smooth, polished wood in some places and solid, trampled earth in others. There is a counter top spread along one wall, with high chairs along its front. Cabinets and cupboards line the other walls. Plenty of tables are spread out through the room, high and low, big and small and all are covered with potted plants. Some sort of palm tree leans wearily against one corner, roots spreading out on the floor like disfigured limbs. One of its large leaves lies on the ground, fallen off and left to its natural decay.

Kuroko finally pulls off his cowl, revealing a mop of bright blue hair that matches the shade of his eyes perfectly.

Shigehiro in contrast is much fierier colored. His hair is some sort of orange-tinted brown - a color that has given him much grief over the years. At least his eyes are normal, albeit a bit light for his heritage. Shigehiro is decently taller than Kuroko, sturdier built as well, but even so he feels small and frail next to him. Kuroko is an ability user; while Shigehiro doesn’t have an ounce of magic talent in him. He can do some basic alchemy, but he’s always had an affinity for a more digital approach.

Sesha sits on her usual chair, legs propped up on the wooden counter top and very obviously waiting for them. “I was starting to worry where you were.” She says in lieu of greeting.

Kuroko gives her a flat look. “I sincerely doubt that.”

Her smile is sincere, although somewhat guarded. “It is good to see you.” She says with genuine warmth in her voice. She is a time weaver, an agent of Time itself, a bridge between the mortal realm and the powers beyond, bound by ancient laws and bound to and by knowledge that surpasses the human mind. Yet, Shigehiro can’t help but think she is the closest thing Kuroko has for a friend aside from maybe him. And he wouldn’t go as far to call them actual friends.

She looks unremarkable, despite the nature of her being. Passing her by on the street, one wouldn’t look twice. She looks like a woman in her twenties with long unkempt brownish hair and maybe a bit too skinny to be entirely healthy. She wears a loose dress, printed with flowers and birds and sometimes the pattern seems to move like a trick of light.

She looks almost ordinary. But it’s the eyes that give her away. Her irises are a mesh of blues and purples, like nebulae floating through space, complete with bright stars scattered around her pupils. An elongated cone shape of indiscernible color cuts through her pupils vertically. It changes shapes fluently, edges smoothing and sharpening, twisting constantly. It’s hard to look at those eyes for long. They were made to see through the turmoil of time. There is little that can withstand their inquiry.

“It is good to see you too, Ogiwara-kun.” She says with a small smile in his direction.

“You as well.” Shigehiro returns the smile. He will never quite shake the awe he feels in her presence, but in a way they are friends too. As functional and utilitarian as that friendship is, the warmth he feels for her is real.

Kuroko pulls out the sphere and puts it on the counter next to her propped up feet.

She clicks her tongue as she inspects the sphere. Inside, the leaf is already crumbling at the edges. Even the sphere’s containing spells can only delay the process for so long. Time waits for no one, not even for magic of the highest order. Shigehiro has only a rudimentary understanding on what that leaf is - a _Risalah Masa_ , a leaf of time. It rarely finds its way into their dimension and when it does it decays in a matter of days. Its power however is beyond Shigehiro’s grasp.

“Not perfect, but it will have to do.” Sesha says to Kuroko with a sigh. She cups the sphere in her hand with quiet reverence, before hopping off her stool. She walks around the counter and to a door on the other side of the room, squeezed in between a table and a bookshelf.

She waves them both to follow, before disappearing inside.

The room on the other side is small, also made from wood but one side seems to be swallowed up by a deep, saturated shadow. It’s not a real shadow, not in the strict sense of the word, but what exactly it is, Shigehiro does not know. It is different from the shadow-illusion that is created by Kuroko’s void, but how, Shigehiro cannot say. _The shadow of time_ Sesha once called it. Whatever that means.

Sesha sits down in front of the black wall, fiddling with the frayed end of the thick, multicolored thread lying on the ground. The thread looks like it has been woven from many smaller threads in every color of the rainbow and some colors Shigehiro has never seen before and that can’t possibly be real. It is irregular, sometimes thick like a thumb and in other places as thin as a hair. It lies in many winds and curls until its end disappears in the darkness.

Kuroko settles on a small wood-grown stool in the corner, while Shigehiro leans against the wall.

Sesha runs her hands over the thread, feels along each and every little twist and loose strand until she finds the spot where they last left off. Then she picks up the sphere. One twist of her hand and the sphere disappears, leaving behind a fine leaf of indeterminable color. It is small; barely the size of a thumbnail, but the power it holds seems to instantly suffuse the whole room. Even Shigehiro can sense it. The _Risalah Masa_ is as rare as it is powerful. And yet infinitely fragile as it can’t survive for long, away from its parent tree - the _Pohon Masa._

The time weaver places the leaf under her tongue. The black in front of her seems to deepen. The light at its edges frays as though it’s sucked into the void of temporal infinity. Where there is darkness for Shigehiro’s eyes, the weaver sees the future. Sometimes, he thinks, Kuroko sees more than the darkness as well, but whatever it is that he sees, he never tells.

Shigehiro knew only a little about time weavers before he met Sesha. He had heard some rumors and legends, the insubstantial stories one tells their children at bedtime. But even now, he understands so little about their caste. One way or another, she is able to sap the energy of the _Risalah Masa_ to read into the future.The future itself is an open book for a time weaver, but the future is never set in stone. It is fluctuating, ever-changing and a weaver’s task is to unwind the strands where they reach into the present. Or so, Sesha had once told him.

They wait in silence as Sesha consumes the leaf. A _Risalah Masa_ holds the potential of its parent tree whose roots reach deep into the fabric of existence. It can be used to enhance spells or transmutations, but in the hands of a time weaver it can do a lot more. It allows her to do more than just see the future - it allows her to find the one path - invariable in its singular purpose - that leads to the outcome she has specified.

The outcome in this case, being the fulfillment of Kuroko’s wish.

 _Time is a lot like a tapestry,_ Sesha had once said to him, after one too many questions. _A tapestry that hasn’t been finished completely. One half is done, a clear pattern - that’s the past. And then there is the transition, where the woven pattern ends and the loose threads begin, waiting to be thread into what has already passed. That’s the present. And the future is where all the loose threads hang from the unfinished tapestry. But they aren’t static. They are moved around constantly by the wind of change, of choice, of_ life _._

_Yet time is infinite. A tapestry is a limited thing. It has an end and a beginning. The threads at its end can’t reach to its beginning. But what happens when you take the tapestry down from the wall and roll it up? Or push it into a pile? It changes the pattern again into endless iteration of a path with no end._

_And that is why we are called weavers and why the future we look at can be held in our hands as threads. But a thread is a fragile thing. It can tear and frazzle at the edges. Smaller threads may get lost and no matter how well you see, there are always parts that will be missing. No matter how young a leaf is, no matter how careful the weaver treads, the image is always contorted._

_But it’s not the whole image you need. Threads interconnect at all points. One decision influences another. Even as we speak, the immediate future is constantly changing. But there are few things, key points if you will, that guide your path into a specific direction. No matter how frayed a thread is, as long as you don’t disrupt the ending, it will always lead to the same point._

The thread she is following now is the thread Kuroko wants to follow - the end he desires. She starts speaking after a while. Sesha sees everything, every little variation of every little action he takes. But true to her words, she only tells them what they need to know. Key points of their journey. A small town in South East Asia, an overcast day in the near future, a sprawling market, hidden in a pocket dimension out of sight, a large tent in gaudy colors, a dying girl with broken eyes and an overturned chalice, adorned with rubies, red liquid dropping on a colorful carpet.

Sesha falls silent eventually. Her hands have stilled on the thread in her hands, but her mind is still caught in the vision she has spun. It will be a while before she resurfaces. Kuroko stands up from his seat and leaves the room. Shigehiro lingers for a moment. Something draws him towards the indomitable wall of black, has always drawn him. What would happen if he walked through? He’s scared of the answer, but he can’t deny its appeal.

But as always, he turns his back and walks out the door. Maybe one day he will ask Sesha what lies beyond. And maybe that day, she will even answer.

Kuroko is staring at the collection of mirrors in the shelves behind the counter. There are small mirrors of the size of a fingertip and larger ones that fit into the palm of a hand. Some are round, some triangular, some rectangular and some have jagged edges as though broken off from a bigger mirror. But all of them are blind.

They hold the visions Sesha has seen.

On the counter next to Kuroko lie a open notebook and a pen. He has stopped halfway through writing down Sesha’s vision. Kuroko seems lost in thought. He doesn’t react when Shigehiro picks up the pen and finishes the notes. It’s unlikely that they will forget between the two of them, but it’s better to be safe.

When he’s done, Shigehiro leafs through the other pages, back to the very first page. The entry is smudged and barely legible. There is no date, but from what Shigehiro has gathered, he knows it all started before his birth. The notes mean little to him, describing places and happenings that have no longer a meaning, but there is one sentence that draws his attention.

The characters have been retraced countless time with various different pens and pencils. They read a name and nothing else. _Akashi Seijuurou._ Shigehiro follows the lines with his finger, careful not to smudge them any more than they already are.

Akashi Seijuurou holds the answer to everything. He is the beginning as well as the end. He is the reason Kuroko set off on the path he’s on.

_“How was he?” Shigehiro asks one day._

_Sesha doesn’t need a name to know who he is talking about. “I never met him personally. All I do know I read from Tetsuya’s past. But there are things there hidden even from my view. Much of what I do see is stained by Tetsuya’s image of him” She smiles a fond smile and it seems that secrets are swirling under the surface of that smile. It is no secret at all, Shigehiro thinks, that Kuroko loves Akashi Seijuurou._

_“But I can say he was remarkable. Powerful beyond comprehension. His power set him apart from everyone around him. The potential I saw would have made him a God in his own right.” She shakes her head, “it is difficult to distinguish the remorse Tetsuya feels over some facts from the reality of it, but it seems he was quite troubled too.”_

_Shigehiro tries to imagine the man. Tries to imagine Akashi Seijuurou - the root of everything that Kuroko is_ now _\- and fails. Kuroko never speaks of him, but he is there, in every action, every word that guides them both on their path._

_ _

Shigehiro closes the notebook and puts it back on the counter. There are easier ways to store information, alchemic encryption or magical recordings and the likes, but Kuroko has a disastrous history with anything magical. There is no point in storing something when a single touch from Kuroko would irrevocably destroy the data.

Sesha comes back eventually. She seems tired somehow, as much as a time weaver could ever look tired. Her eyes are static, unchanging in the shape of long vertical cones.

She hands Kuroko a small pocket sized mirror, milky glass staring dully back at them. _It is painful to watch Kuroko’s future_ , she had told him once, after Shigehiro had asked why she never kept Kuroko’s mirrors. _I don’t want to be reminded of it_. She had told him then that the mirrors weren’t blind for her. That she could see the same vision over and over again. But forcing a definite path versus seeing the natural flow of the future were two different things.

 _Why do you keep doing it then?_ Shigehiro had asked then, his mouth ever so often faster than his brain. Kuroko hadn’t reacted and Sesha had only smiled and the shapes in her eyes had flickered.

Kuroko takes the mirror and the void rises from his skin to swallow it up. Even after seeing it so many times, Shigehiro still thinks it’s fascinating. The void devours everything it touches - without discrimination - but nothing it eats is lost indefinitely. It just ceases to exist when it enters the void, but Kuroko is able to retrieve anything he’s ever absorbed. Although, it isn’t really retrieving but recreating, as though building from a blueprint. And the void holds all the blueprints of everything Kuroko ever absorbed.

But not everything can be recreated faithfully. The void can’t create _life_. No matter how much life energy Kuroko feeds it, feeds _himself_ , the void can only take life, not restore it. So many things would be easier if it could.

“Be careful with this one.” Sesha says after a moment’s consideration. “A lot of threads were lost. Some might have branched into trouble.”

“I hate when you says that,” Shigehiro throws his arms up in mock frustration. “Please tell me there are no elks involved at least. I can take everything but no more elks.”

“You lived; it couldn’t have been that bad.” Sesha says completely ignorant of Shigehiro’s suffering.  

Shigehiro groans. “I lost ten years of my life. Probably more. _I got adopted by an elk.”_

“Didn’t improve on your manners.” Sesha smirks.

Shigehiro pokes his tongue out at her. “I take offense to that. My manners are flawless. I was planning on bringing you a mango the next time we end up in the rainforest.”

“Forgive me Ogiwara-sama. I shall extend my humblest apologies for my misstep. A man of such refined mannerisms has naught stepped over my doorstep. I am simply not accustomed to be put into my place by such grace.” She exaggeratedly bows.

Shigehiro laughs loud and openly. He’ll always be in awe at least partially about the mere existence of Sesha as a time weaver, but there are moments when it’s easy to forget that she is not human. She seems so far removed from her otherworldly aura in these moments.

Kuroko watches the exchange silently and with impassive eyes. Still, there is the faintest trace of a smile around his lips and so Shigehiro clings to the hope that what he does is not entirely in vain. That somewhere there is still a human in the shell of Kuroko Tetsuya’s body.

They leave shortly after.

Kuroko is pretty much the most powerful ability user in existence - at least as far as Shigehiro can judge the matter. But he’s horrifically inept when it comes to modern technology. Which isn’t to say he doesn’t know how to use it, it is more that he _can’t_. Almost everything is powered by magic or is at least made functional by magic. Magic connects almost every corner of the world via the internet or phone lines.

(Some days Shigehiro likes to amuse himself by imagining just how many phone calls, downloads or other important things Kuroko has interrupted merely by walking through a transmitted signal. It doesn’t work that way, Kuroko tells him, but Shigehiro still likes to imagine.)

Shigehiro uses the wonder that is the internet on his phone to get some background on their next location.

The Mogok Valley in upper Myanmar is a natural treasure throve for gem stones of all kinds, but most notably rubies. _Of course, it’s rubies;_ Shigehiro thinks and swipes his thumb to scroll further down. About 90% of the world’s rubies come from Myanmar, although the number is rapidly dwindling, as more and more natural ruby resources are uncovered all over the world. Shigehiro has seen quite a few ruby mines up close; for whatever reason _Nyama_ tend to show up near them. There’s a good chance he’s going to see the rest of them as well.

Before the magical revolution in the late eighteenth century, gem stones had been used exclusively as jewelry or in rare cases as currency. But as their crystal structure turned out to have perfect storage capacities for magic, as well as their value for alchemic transformation had been discovered, their monetary value sky-rocketed.

The town of Mogok itself is rather small and unassuming, weren’t it for the many market areas at just about every corner - markets solely for the trade of gemstones. Outsiders are not allowed in the area without a special permit, but things like that have never stopped Kuroko. Shigehiro is not exactly sure how he does it, but it seems he absorbs the people’s line of sights. If that even makes sense. On some days Shigehiro can barely wrap his head around what Kuroko’s ability actually _is_.

The climate is warm, despite the nearing of winter. Shigehiro would have liked to stay and look around, but Kuroko has no patience for sightseeing as usual. He sets a brisk pace, leaving Shigehiro little opportunity to take a good look around. It takes Shigehiro a moment to notice that they are apparently following a group of people. The group isn’t anything out of the ordinary from the many people around them, but something must have caught Kuroko’s eyes.

The group approaches one of the fountains on one of the smaller market plazas. It’s a simple fountain with stone fishes spouting water into a basin. Nothing out of the ordinary.

It happens so fast, Shigehiro almost misses it. One moment the group stands there, casually leaning against the fountain’s basin, the next they are gone, swallowed up by a small spark of light.

Shigehiro blinks, but the group stays gone.

“Was that what I think it was?” He asks. The sun is quite bright outside and Shigehiro has to shield his eyes to see properly. No one except them has taken any notice of the suddenly disappearing group of people.

“A portal to a pocket dimension.” Kuroko says in response.

“Wait just a minute.” Shigehiro pulls out his phone and opens his browser. A few clicks later and he’s found what he’s looking for. “I knew it.” He holds out the screen for Kuroko to look at. “This is where we are going, isn’t it?” Kuroko glances at the screen once, before stepping up to the fountain. Shigehiro takes it as a yes.

“I haven’t imprinted the spell that opens the portal. We need to wait until someone else arrives.” He says and settles down on the steps that lead up to the fountain.

“Hold on.” Shigehiro waves a hand. “I think I know how to enter this place. There’s supposed to be a switch somewhere, for the poor folks without magical talent.” He frowns and taps some more on his phone. The place is supposed to be a secret and restricted to a certain circle of people. Information outside of some basic rumors is hard to come by. But Shigehiro has made a living out of information brokering long before he met Kuroko. He knows exactly where to look to get the information he wants.

“Okay, there is a switch on one of the fishes.” Shigehiro frowns. “Oh, that’s interesting. There is a magical disillusion field that averts people’s interest to something else when the fountain is in use. Why did that not work on me?”

“You were in direct contact with my void.” Kuroko stands on his toes to inspect the water-spouting fishes. “Where is the switch?”

“Uh, okay. That sounds kind of suggestive, but whatever.”

“The switch.” Kuroko reminds him. He doesn’t sound impatient - he never does - but Shigehiro knows him long enough to see through the mask of calm. Kuroko is very much impatient.

“Yeah, yeah. The fish to the right.” Kuroko reaches out. “Ah, wait. They’re counting from the other side, so it’s the left fish. You have to touch the tail.” Kuroko touches the tail. Nothing happens.

Shigehiro hides a grin. Of course, nothing would happen. The switch isn’t mechanical, but magical. Kuroko can do some awesome shit with his powers, but he’s helpless with the most basic of things sometimes. It’s yet another source of joy for Shigehiro, if only because it allows him to not feel completely useless next to Kuroko.

“It appears I am unable to open the portal.” Kuroko looks at him.

Shigehiro puts away his phone and skips up the steps. “What would you do without me? You better take my hand or the spell will leave you behind.”

“I doubt that. It is an area of effect spell.” Kuroko replies but takes his hand anyway.

Shigehiro touches the fish.

There is the familiar pull of an interdimensional translocation spell taking effect. The scenery flashes once before his eyes, before settling back to normal. The scene around them hasn’t changed much, at least not on first glance.

“Whoa.” Shigehiro looks around with his mouth hanging open.

Pocket dimensions - unlike sub dimensions, like Sesha’s home - aren’t independent rooms in space. They are more like a super positioned copy of their dimensional original, in this case the small market with the fountain. The fountain is still there, the market stretches around them, but where it was restricted to a small plaza in the real world, here it seems to stretch out into infinity. The town is a mere blur on the horizon too far away to make out any details.

And there are people everywhere. Milling between the stalls and stands, the small tents and tables. The air is buzzing with activity and Shigehiro feels giddy from simply watching. There are gems and stones everywhere, polished to a smooth shine or rough cuts fresh from the rock. It’s not just the local mines that supply this place, but mines from all over the world. Mogok is only one access point of many strewn all over Asia.

Depending on the entry point, though, not only the location changes, but also the offered goods. It’s an odd and somewhat twisted bit of dimensional magic - cast originally by the Russian government to sell the country’s natural riches without having to pay taxes; it had quickly become a black market in use for multiple organized crime organizations in Asia.

Mogok’s access point is one of the smallest and most exclusive, only gems are sold here, processed as well as raw. One way or another, one can buy almost everything here, drugs, weapons, natural resources, cars, stored magic, alchemy, all kinds of services and even humans. There are multiple cross portals in each section, allowing direct travel from one part to another and there is a newly flourishing sub segment of touristic trade that sells quick passage through all parts of Asia to paying customers.

It’s such a hot spot of international trade that no one looks at them twice. Or maybe that’s just the sight shield.

They make their way into the market.

“This place is amazing.” Shigehiro can barely keep the excitement contained. The whole atmosphere of the place, the mess of languages in the air like bird chatter, it is infectious. Shigehiro has a wide grin on his face and he keeps pointing out things to Kuroko who listens to it all in stoic silence. One day, he vows to himself, he’ll come back here by himself with all the time in the world. And he’ll hop through all the different market parts until he has seen it all.

Eventually, he quiets down however, focusing his thoughts back on the task at hand. “We are looking for the tent, aren’t we?”

Kuroko’s nod is barely visible. He casts his eyes about the people, searching for something. Shigehiro recognizes the look and falls back a few steps. Kuroko raises his hand, just slightly as though he is grasping for something. To Kuroko, the gesture is a thoughtless one, written so deeply into his sub consciousness that he isn’t even aware of it. Or so, Shigehiro thinks.

There’s sparks of blue light dancing around Kuroko’s skin, like tiny fireworks of life energy. He only takes a tiny bit from everyone, a few hours, a day maybe. More and he would put them at risk. It’s almost nothing, but Kuroko drains life whenever he is in a crowd. Each time he renews his life a bit more, buying himself the time he needs to complete his task.

This is something Shigehiro will never get used to. The people don’t realize anything is amiss and continue with their day as if nothing happened.

Even if it’s just a day, Shigehiro can’t help but think it’s too much. But for Kuroko this is a compromise, as much ground as he is willing to cede. He’ll take the life he needs no matter what. This is much better than the alternative. It’s been years and Shigehiro still sometimes has nightmares from that.

They continue on their path through the crowd. And with every step the _Nyama_ draws nearer.

_“What is a Nyama?”_

_Sesha looks up from the plant she is currently grooming. Shigehiro has never seen a plant like this before, but that is true for most of the plants in Sesha’s home. Kuroko is out on an errand. He never tells what it is that he does, but always sees to it that Shigehiro stays behind, usually with Sesha as his company._

_He nudges the red stone in front of him with his finger and it rolls over the countertop. The stone catches the light in an odd way that seems as though it is glowing from inside. Other than that, it looks just like an ordinary ruby._

_Sesha walks over and picks up the stone. “Has Tetsuya not told you?”_

_“I never asked.” Shigehiro admits. “He’s always touchy around_ that _subject.”_

 _“Understandably. Although it_ is _remarkable that he can be touchy about anything.” She gives him a somewhat fond look that makes Shigehiro blush. He focuses on the stone to distract himself from the self-conscious feeling. Sesha can be intense, even when being casual. “But I guess, considering what this is all about, if he weren’t touchy about it, he would have already stopped.” She puts the stone back down._

 _“_ Nyama _are but one name of many.” Sesha’s eyes shift and the shapes turn to jagged edges and sharp angles, breaking her iris into chasms. Shigehiro has never heard her speak with reverence before. “They have many names.” She continues. “Blood Stones. Pomegranate seeds, or fruit of life if you will. Astarte’s tears. It matters little what you call them.” Her pupils shift along her words, to round, to oblong, to tear shaped. “They are the essence of life, coalesced magical energy in the form of a crystal. A single stone can heal a deadly wound or illness. It is consumed in the process and turns inert. Consume enough and you might achieve immortality. In any case, they would prolong a human’s life greatly, if applied correctly.”_

_“Where do they come from?”_

_Sesha looks down at the stone innocuously lying on the counter top. Even when touching it, Shigehiro can’t sense its power. It seems such an ordinary stone._

_“Who knows? The legends of the Dogon say they are the blood of Nommo Semi, a being made of both woman and man, spilled in an effort to reverse the impurity caused by the rebellion of Ogo. It is the creation myth of the Dogon. That is where the name_ Nyama _comes from. But the other names suggest other origins. Tears cried by the goddess of balance Astarte, a goddess who is a myth herself. Seeds of the fruit of life whose own origin is debatable at best. And so forth._

_“You may say they are the most powerful magical artifact in this world. For they hold life itself.” She smiles down at the stone._

_“I guess that means the stones can be used to revive the dead? Why else would Kuroko be after them? If not to bring Akashi back.”_

_The smile vanishes from Sesha’s lips. She looks almost sad. “That is the idea. I have seen it, or rather I have seen a path that leads to this outcome, although its end is yet concealed from my sight. All of the_ Nyama _in the world may not be enough to revive Akashi Seijuurou. He’s-“ She cuts herself off and shakes her head. “Maybe Kuroko can give you an answer to that.”_

_Shigehiro gives the stone a gentle nudge with his finger. It tips and rolls on its side. It catches the light and for a moment it seems it holds an eye in its depths. Shigehiro smiles a rueful smile. “Maybe he will.” He murmurs._

_Sesha says nothing. But she doesn’t return to her plants either. She sits down on her stool and props her elbows on the counter top. She watches as he plays with the stone, using his index finger to roll it around on the worn wooden surface._

_“Has it always been like this?” Shigehiro asks after a while. “Looking for something you don’t even know will have merit?”_

_“What do you think?” Sesha asks with faint amusement._

_Shigehiro opens his mouth to respond, but thinks better of it. She’s right. How could it ever have been different?_

_“There is a path.” Sesha says. “I don’t know its end, but the path is there. Time is fickle. The future, even the one I_ determine _is fickle. Tetsuya’s wish bleeds into the timeline through me. What I’m seeing may be merely what he wants to see. It has to be answer enough for all of us.”_

_“Does Kuroko know this?”_

_“He does. But even if I told him that it was pointless, he wouldn’t stop.”_

No, _Shigehiro thinks,_ he wouldn’t. _Kuroko would stop at nothing in this world to get Akashi back._

_For all that it has achieved - magic can’t just bring the dead back to life._

 


	2. Shigehiro II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but I came home rather late yesterday and went straight to bed. Next update will be as scheduled on the 1st of October, unless something comes up again.

The tent is hard to miss once it comes into view. It stands out even among the mass of colors that is their surroundings. It is larger than all the other tents and it is raised up on a wooden platform in the center of a small plaza. It is not as colorful as he’d imagined from Sesha’s description, but instead rather macabre in its color scheme. The tent itself is white but it is splattered with red paint which makes it seem like it’s covered in blood.

“Someone’s got a nasty taste.” Shigehiro scrunches his nose. Sure, it kind of goes with the theme, but _seriously_? Kuroko as usual is unconcerned about the matter at large.

They slip through the line that has formed at the tent’s entrance, unnoticed. So far, getting there has been a piece of cake, but something tells Shigehiro that getting inside is a different story. There is no obvious magic, but Shigehiro has learned early on that just because something is not visible, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. And this is the kind of place that would be crawling with spells and security measurements.

And not even the two bouncers blocking of the entrance to any unwanted guests can discourage Shigehiro from that fact. So before Kuroko can blunder through the spells that guard the entrance and raise all kinds or alarms, Shigehiro grabs his arm and pulls him to the side to observe.

“There’s some spells there, I bet. If you just walk through in, they’ll collapse. Someone will notice and I’d rather not announce our presence with a gong.” Shigehiro rubs his neck.

Kuroko squints ever so slightly as though he is trying to see the magic in the air. “I don’t feel anything.”

“Well, you wouldn’t.” Kuroko sends him a reproachful glare. “Don’t look at me like that. You know it’s true. Even I can sense more magic than you. Kuroko is the magic equivalent of blind.”

“Ogiwara-kun is quite rude. I am perfectly able to sense the magic my void consumes.”

“Yes, when you _consume_ it. By then it’s too late. This isn’t a barrier spell or anything. People can walk through just fine.“ Almost as if on cue, the bouncers move aside to let through a woman. Shigehiro tries to find a discerning feature on her that sets her apart from the rest of the crowd, aside that everything about her screams money. Maybe that _is_ the criteria for entrance.

“I suppose it reads out threats then?” Kuroko asks.

“I guess. Maybe it just scans people for, you know, for banned faces or something. Like there is a blacklist and certain folks are not allowed to enter. Or it detects magic. Or it scans people for their invitation and only lets those through who have one. Hell, for all I know it could be there to count visitor numbers. Or,” Shigehiro grins somewhat sheepishly, “there is no magic at all.”

Kuroko gives him another reproachful look.

“Hey, I’m usually never wrong with stuff like that. Hell, you’ve _seen me being right on point_. You sure you want to risk announcing your presence to everyone by dissolving the spells?”

Kuroko gives him the equivalent of a frown, which is really a rather displeased look. But he doesn’t contradict him. “How does Ogiwara-kun propose we enter then?” There is only a tiny bit of smugness in his voice and Shigehiro is too relieved about _that_ fact to take offense at being put on the spot.

“I doubt we have the time to figure out what spells there are.”

“Or if there are even any.”

“Yes, that too. But as I said. I’m rarely wrong when it comes to sniffing out magic. I mean, when I actually do sniff out magic.” Most of the time he’s simply too caught up to notice that there _should_ be magic. Kuroko tilts his head and that’s as much concession as he’s going to get. “Okay, I propose we find a large enough group and tag along? You should be able to copy their scents or something.”

“That might be an option. Although I doubt the spells are triggered by scent.”

“Magical signature or whatever. Don’t be difficult.”

“I’ll try my best.” Shigehiro thinks, although that is highly unlikely, Kuroko is smiling.

They don’t have to wait long before a suitable group arrives. It takes even less for Shigehiro to realize that this group is fairly special. The crowd parts for them like butter before a knife and then there is the aura. Not a magical aura - which Shigehiro wouldn’t be able to see anyway - but an aura of power and command. It all originates from the man that must be the leader of the group. He’s tall and wears dark clothes, which doesn’t really set him apart, but he has a way with him, like the way he walks that makes Shigehiro instantly wary. His eyes are sharp, the way a predator would look at his prey. Shigehiro shudders involuntarily as they graze over the spot Kuroko and he are hiding in. He can’t see them, but thinking that doesn’t really help the feeling. His entourage trails behind him almost like a coat floating in the wind. Shigehiro wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be some kind of prince.

“Is it just me or does this reek of trouble?” Shigehiro mutters.”I do not like the looks of them.” The leader is one thing, but the entire group of people gives off a bad vibe. Like hyenas gathering around a corpse.

Kuroko, if he shares his concerns, doesn’t show it. He moves forward fluidly, inserting himself into the back of the group and Shigehiro makes haste to follow. It feels awkward to be this close to people who can’t see them. Technically, they can’t even hear them, but Shigehiro is still very self-conscious about any noises he is making.

If there is any sort of alarm spell, it is not triggered when they pass. In fact, nothing out of the ordinary happens. Shigehiro takes a breath of relief when they can finally separate from the group once inside. There’s just something about these people that has the fine hair at his nape stand on edge.

The inside of the tent is lavishly decorated with banners and flower garlands hanging from the tent walls. Rows of chairs are lined in front of a central stage. A thick, plush red carpet runs from the tent entrance to a small staircase that leads up to the stage. The smell of incense is heavy in the air, enough to make Shigehiro feel nauseous.

The leader of the group seems to know exactly what to expect and he doesn’t hesitate to stride down the aisle towards the stage. Most chairs are already taken by an obviously excited crowd, but the chairs at the immediate front are mostly empty. The newcomers are greeted by a portly man, wearing a rather salient and opulent brocade robe. He has at least one ring on every finger, including the thumbs, elaborate gold jewelry around his neck, on his ears and around his wrists and ankles. And each piece of jewelry is adorned in turn with a large gem stone. If he were to advertise the market and its goods, he at least came prepared.

“Welcome.” He throws his arms open as though aiming for a hug, but instead he reaches for the man’s elbows and presses a perfunctory kiss on both his cheeks. “It is a pleasure to have you here tonight, Baron Schwarz.” He says with a beaming smile.

Baron Schwarz’s answer is too quiet to understand, but the fat man seems very please with whatever it is he has said.

“I think that’s the most cliché villain name I ever heard.” Shigehiro whispers to Kuroko. Kuroko’s lips twitch but he doesn’t say anything. “If we were in a story, he would be our villain. Not that we are in need of one. Hell, I hope he’s not our villain. I’ve got my hands full with-“ Shigehiro cuts himself off. Kuroko doesn’t really seem as though he was listening. But he as, he always is. Even the most off-handed mumblings, Kuroko always listens. He’s just not that big on replying.

Shigehiro clears his throat. “Anyway, we should try and see if we can find the stone. Might be best when everyone’s still settling in.”

“I’m afraid it won’t be that simple.” Kuroko indicates the stage. It’s a simple stage made of wood. It’s barely large enough to hold two people comfortably next to the small table situated in its center. On it there is a golden chalice encrusted with red gems. It fits the description that Sesha has given them of the overturned chalice. Which means whatever needs to happen before they can get the stone, hasn’t happened yet.

“Can’t we just spill it?” Shigehiro scratches the back of his head. He doesn’t think it’s supposed to work like that. But it can’t hurt to ask.

“There is no carpet.”

“Huh? Oh right.” Sesha had described a carpet too. “The girl’s not her yet either. I think.” He scans the crowd but can’t make out anyone who fits that description. “So we wait?”

Kuroko inclines his head in agreement.

“Could one of the rubies be a _Nyama_?”

“Unlikely. Sesha would have denoted them as such.”

Shigehiro sighs. “Of course it’s never that easy.”

The robed man hops on the stage with surprising agility and claps his hands. The crowd instantly falls silent. An atmosphere of excited anticipation settles over the tent. Shigehiro cranes his head to get a look at the crowd, but nothing seems out of the ordinary so far.

The fat man, who seems to be largely in charge of things, begins his introduction. He uses the level of pathos and extravagant words one would expect from such an event and Shigehiro quickly tunes him out. Something has caught his eye. The tent wall behind the stage hangs looser than the walls on the sides, as if it is meant to be moved. Could there be a room behind there? He points Kuroko’s attention to it.

Kuroko looks quizzically at the wall for a moment before faintly nodding. Shigehiro allows himself a moment of pride for discovering the room.

He turns his attention back to the man on the podium, just as he raises the chalice for everyone to see. “And this is it. The Holy Grail.” He announces, complete with dramatic pause.

Someone in the audience laughs.

The man grins with a slight twinkle in his eyes. “I’m kidding. What need do I have for the Holy Grail and ancient beliefs? This is something much better.” His smile morphs into a smirk and there is a hungry expression in his eyes. “ _This_ is the essence of life.”

This time the audience’s reaction is much more awed. Hushed whispers arise through the rows.

“Incidentally, the Holy Grail _does_ exist.” Kuroko says out of nowhere. Shigehiro’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline. Kuroko is unusually talkative today. “In a matter at least.”

Shigehiro regards him for a moment, while the crowd exchanges excited whispers. It seems rather facetious, as _clearly_ they must have had some idea of what to expect.

“Let me guess, you tried the Grail first?”

Kuroko tilts his head. “I thought about it. But it is a rather overrated artifact. In any case, it would not have been enough.”

Shigehiro hums but says nothing. His attention is caught then by the Baron in the first row. He is whispering something to one of his companions, a woman with thick auburn hair, who wears a rather nasty smile on her face. The man gives Shigehiro the creeps, but he can’t exactly say why. Cliché name or not, he _is_ just a man. He inadvertently looks at Kuroko. That could be said about him as well though.

The man on the stage tips the chalice until some of the liquid contained spills out, a small innocuous drop of red clinging to its lip. “This much is enough to heal any wounds, any ailment, even prolong life for a few years. Drink the whole cup and you may even find immortality.”

Another hushed outbreak of whispers. The Baron smiles, all jagged ice and steel. Shigehiro suppresses a shudder.

“He’s exaggerating, isn’t he?” Shigehiro asks in a whisper.

“Even if that were the real Grail, the effects are a bit too much. Although, I presume the true power lies in the liquid.”

“Do you think that got something to do with the _Nyama_?”

“Possibly. Quite likely, even.”

“Bring her in.” The man on the stage orders and then the tent behind the stage folds open to reveal another smaller room behind. And there in the room a girl waits, leaning heavily on another man’s arm. The man wears a protective mask over his mouth and nose and his hands are gloved, Shigehiro notes.

The man escorts the girl on the stage. A collective gasp escapes the audience. She must be the girl from Sesha’s vision, although there are no signs of any stains on her white dress. That might change soon though. The girl is unmistakably suffering from magic rot, judging from how her veins protrude from her skin like slimy blue worms.

“As you can see,” the man on stage says heavily, “this girl has contracted the most infamous of diseases, the contamination of magic itself.” Shigehiro feels bile rise in his throat. So far none of the bloated veins have broken but it’s all a matter of time. The girl, there is no doubt about it, is dying.

Although that fact had been blatantly obvious from the beginning, the crowd breaks out into another bout of gasps and shocked exclamations. A lot of people are openly concerned, but no one makes a move to leave. There is a certain air in the tent - hungry expectation, anticipation even. The people here seem to know what will happen next. To be fair, it _is_ pretty obvious where this is leading.

The stage master smiles and raises his arms. “Calm down,” the man placates with a benevolent smile. “Fear not. This child has been chosen.”

The girl convulses and the man has to hold her up. She’s pale and that only serves to make the sick blue of her inflated veins stand out even more.

Magic suffuses everything - it is, at its base - the essence of life. There is an ongoing debate as to how exactly magic came into existence, but Shigehiro likes to believe that it was just always there - and will still be there when everything else is gone.

But as everything in life, magic can be corrupted. And the magic rot is just that - corrupted and rotten magic that infects its host, slowly killing them from the inside out. The girl, from the looks of it, is in the final stages. Her eyes are sunken in a hollowed out face, skin dried out and cracked open in many places. And of course, the bloated veins that stand in sharp ridges against the brittle skin.

The scary thing about the rot is that it doesn’t discriminate. It infects ability user as well as mages, even people with no magical affinity at all. It also can’t be healed through magic as the spells would only fall victim to the corruption. It can only be treated with common methods of medicine and those mostly serve to ease the symptoms. There is no real cure for corrupted magic.

As she keeps convulsing, the crowd grows more and more concerned, but the stage master is still calm, so is the man that holds the girl upwards. “Behold the power of life that has been imbued into this magical artifact. Behold the life that can be gained with a single drop.” The stage master raises the cup higher and the other man tilts the girl’s body, until she hangs in his arms. Her mouth falls open and the stage master tilts the chalice until the small drop of liquid red, hanging from the lip falls into the open mouth of the girl.

The girl swallows compulsively, when the man that holds her tilts her head back, the motion obvious against the taut stretch of her skin. Nothing happens for a moment, but then Shigehiro can see the light flickering over her skin in short, sharp bursts. The gashes on her skin close, the color returns and slowly the protruding veins recede into the smoothness of her skin. It takes only moments, but after maybe ten seconds the girls is healed completely. Not even a trace of her sickness is left.

The power of life triumphs over magic. It is, Shigehiro thinks, somewhat ironic. In their essence, both are very much the same.

The crowd breaks up in excited whispers. Anticipation rises even higher.

“One drop.” The man proclaims, as the girl is ushered back into the backstage area. No one pays her any mind, no one but Kuroko that is, who stares after her. Shigehiro can’t tell what he is thinking. “Just one drop and life has been renewed. One drop and you will be freed from any ailment or sickness. Two drops and a paralyzed man may walk again. Three drops and a limb will regrow as if it were never gone. Drink a full cup and a man’s life will never wane.” There is a mischievous twinkle in the man’s eyes. “Don’t lose your head though; it is rather hard to drink without a head.” The crowd laughs like a well rehearsed performance.

Shigehiro is doubtful. Granted, he never has seen the powers of a _Nyama_ in action, but he has utmost trust in Sesha’s words. There is no way that one cup of this mysterious liquid can do what would need a never ending supply of _Nyama_. Or, Shigehiro thinks as his eyes are inadvertently drawn to Kuroko, magical vampirism.

“It’s not real, is it?” He asks Kuroko. He doesn’t know what it would mean if it was real. A cup that could offer eternal life, just like that. He had learned once, a long time ago that restoring - regardless of the subject - always comes with a price. He has seen it firsthand when Kuroko drinks in the life force of people around him. What if this chalice is the same? What if it holds the life force of a hundred people in it, condensed into a pool of red liquid. If Kuroko can do it, it should be possible through other means as well.

The stage master continues his speech, praising and praising the power of life in his hands. The crowd seems to wake from a slumber then and voice after voice rises to offer their bid. Shigehiro tunes them out until they recede to a blur of background noises.

“That depends on what you mean.” Kuroko has his attention back on the stage and the chalice. “It _is_ the power of a _Nyama_ , although largely distorted.”

“Oh thank fuck.” Kuroko raises an eyebrow and Shigehiro waves him off, faint heat settling in his cheeks. He is not going to tell Kuroko what he had been thinking only moments before.

Kuroko looks back at the stage. “Normally this amount of extracted energy would not be enough to heal someone who is this close to death. But the girl hasn’t been affected that badly in the first place.”

Shigehiro looks at Kuroko rather disbelievingly. “Are you telling me she wasn’t sick, like it was an illusion?”

“It was a glamour as a matter of fact. She had been in fact suffering from the rot, but the infection itself was recent. “

“Huh. Talk about improper business practices. Do people actually fall for that?” The bidding has started in the meantime, which does in fact mean that people did d fall for this. Shigehiro can’t say if his primary emotion is amusement or disappointment. The pitfalls of wishful thinking.

(He has to concede however, had he been in a different situation that he is now, would have likely fallen for it as well.)

“How is it even possible? And how could you tell?” Shigehiro indicates the chalice with his head. “Aren’t _Nyama_ supposed to be unchangeable or something like that?”

“They are. But that doesn’t mean their essence can’t be leeched. Of course, the result is the essence being essentially contorted. Although it does raise some interesting questions. As for how I could tell, it is a rather simple matter. I have seen that as well in the mirror.”

“Cheater.” Shigehiro mutters under his breath. Aloud he says, “I’m sure it does.” He can’t help but think though this is an issue that can do very much without additional complications. “So what’s the plan? Do we go for the _Nyama_ or do we wait until the party is over? I mean they are not going to sell the _Nyama_ , it’s literally their gold cow.”

“We wait.”

In the end a man from the back of the crowd wins the bid. Shigehiro doesn’t like the look of him, but what he likes even less is that choice cliché villain Baron Schwarz hasn’t participated in the bidding. He seems to be the kind of person who’d pursue eternal life. Shigehiro decides to keep an eye on him just in case. He has learned to trust his instincts the hard way.

(He blithely ignores the fact that he is very much biased on behalf of Schwarz’s beautifully rendered cliché villain persona that comes along with a name that is probably perfectly ordinary at its place of origin but horribly misplaced and villainous everywhere else. Shigehiro is on a ride and no one’s gonna stop him.)

The stage master makes a show of thanking his audience before inviting the winner up on the stage. They lapse into a muted conversation. The man has brought a bodyguard, a burly man that proudly displays the sigils and spells tattooed on his body. The kind that spells trouble and Shigehiro has learned well to stay away from. Come to think of it, the whole tent is filled with people Shigehiro would usually avoid at pretty much all costs. Ever since he started hanging out with Kuroko he’s met all kinds of - interesting - people. Yay him.

The crowd is slow to leave, but the two guards from before make sure there is no dawdling. The stage master and the buyer have finished their discussion and make their way towards the backroom. The bodyguard remains behind to stand guard.

Baron Schwarz in the meantime makes absolutely no attempt to leave. The majority of his group is making their way to the exit, except for the redheaded woman who remains at his side. There is a distinct distortion in the air around them that gives Shigehiro a headache just looking at it. He glances at Kuroko, but he has already moved to follow Schwarz up the stage. Shigehiro rushes to catch up, lest he’ll leave the protective bubble around Kuroko.

Shigehiro looks back while approaching the stage. The two guards at the exit don’t take notice of anything amiss, so the distorted air must be some sort of illusion spell. The buyer’s bodyguard seems not to be affected, as he steps into the Baron’s way. He opens his mouth, but no sounds come out. He seems frozen in place, mouth still hanging open and eyes staring unblinking ahead.

There had been no sign of magic used and Shigehiro wonders if he’s just witnessed an ability. Kuroko’s face shows no sign of emotion, but there is a hard expression in his eyes that sends shivers down Shigehiro’s spine. Sometimes it is all too easy to forget that amidst all the monsters and dangers lurking on the playing field, Kuroko is by far the greatest of them all.

Baron Schwarz and his companion disappear into the backroom. Shigehiro moves to follow, but realizes Kuroko has yet to move.

“What is it?”

Kuroko stares at the frozen guard. He just stares. Shigehiro turns his attention back to the man, but for him it’s just that. A man frozen in motion. Then he thinks to take a closer look at the man’s many tattoos. He has little talent for magic and alchemy but he has made it a point to learn as much about sigils and spell circles as possible. Information like that can fetch a decent price after all.

The sigils - all of which were perfectly functional moments before, he is sure of that - are all rendered useless. It’s small things, some lines are missing, some are simply misplaced. The magic stored in them has dissolved, which would explain why none of the defensive spells triggered at the attack. But. And that’s just it. Kuroko can nullify any magic by essentially consuming it. But this isn’t just nullifying. This is physical manipulation as well as magical manipulation. This is no small feat, and that makes it very bad news.

But that doesn’t quite account for the dark look in Kuroko’s eyes. He has yet to respond to Shigehiro’s question. Abruptly, he turns away and walks to follow the others into the back area.

Shigehiro makes haste to follow behind Kuroko. The disturbance of the tent flap goes unnoticed, but considering the scene they find behind, Shigehiro finds that little surprising. Of all the things he expected, it certainly wasn’t this.

The man who won the bid is dead, a gaping hole in his chest. A similar fate has befallen the man who had escorted the girl earlier. There had been no sound, nothing to hint at what was happening. There is blood covering the arm of the red haired woman up to her elbow. No, not just blood. Shigehiro sees bits and pieces of gore cling to her sleeve, a fact that she seems utterly indifferent towards.

The stage master is backed into a corner, seeking shelter in the flimsy cover of the tarp. The chalice is clutched in his hands, while his eyes are wide and frightened. The cured girl is cowering against the far wall. The fringe of her hair hangs into her face, covering most of it, but the trembles that rack her body give away her fear.

“Would you be so kind and show us where you hid the tear?” The Baron asks with fake pleasantry. He stands in the center of the room in a relaxed stance, almost causal amidst the slaughter.

“What do you mean?” The stage master clutches the chalice even tighter. His eyes dart from the Baron to the woman and then get drawn inevitably back to the men dead on the floor. His jaw works to suppress the tremble of his lips but fails.

“Please. Don’t make this more tedious than it absolutely has to be. There is no such thing as the essence of life. You might trick the likes of these,” he nudges the dead bidder with his foot, “but I have done my homework. You have one of Astarte’s tears. Now hand it over.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” The stage master says, but the conviction behind his words is undermined by his shaking legs.

“I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t waste my time with lying. Carmine, if you would be so kind?”

“No!” The stage master backs away from the approaching woman, but he ends up with his back against the tent wall. “I don’t know anything. I’m just a figurehead. My boss is the one calling the shots.”

Carmine doesn’t stop her approach. “Don’t worry, I have already taken care of your puppet master,” Baron Schwarz says with a rather twisted smile “He was very helpful in pointing out you had the original. I have no qualms turning this place upside down, but I prefer time efficacy. I assure you, having Carmine rearrange your inner organs is rather nasty business I would like to avoid.”

“Please, no.” The man begs. Carmine reaches out and he flinches, dropping the chalice on the ground, where it spills on the expensive carpet. She trails her fingers down his face, eyes cold and without a hint of the mercy - it’s a disconcerting contrast to the gentleness of her touch. The man follows her motions with his eyes, but does not dare to move. The Baron has sat down on the only chair, one leg thrown over the other. He is smiling faintly and with the expression of someone currently enjoying a very good show.

Faintly, Shigehiro is aware that part of Sesha’s vision just came true. But his mind is too horrified to make much sense of it.

“Please.” The man sobs. “I’ve never done you any wrong.”

“No,” the Baron says solemnly, “you haven’t. But you have something I want.”

Shigehiro is startled badly when Kuroko suddenly brushes past him. Not towards the locked couple, but towards the girl cowering in the corner. Shigehiro is torn where to direct his attention. The question is answered for him when the void wells up from Kuroko’s skin only to be sucked in a moment later to disappear from sight.

The girl gasps in shock and inevitably draws everyone’s attention. Shigehiro is suddenly acutely aware of his position - in the middle of the small room without _any_ protection. Kuroko is crouching in front of the girl and _why has he dropped the shield?_

The girl has her arms slung around her body, her bare feet sticking out of the plain white dress she is wearing. She stares with trembling lips at Kuroko, hair falling open to reveal her face. There are tears streaking down her cheeks. But her eyes.

Or rather, eye. Shigehiro has a very bad feeling about this.

The stage master collapses as Carmine’s hold on him eases and she turns her attention to Kuroko.

“Who are you?” The Baron asks. He seems annoyed rather than worried. Thankfully, his attention is focused on Kuroko rather than Shigehiro. He would feel bad about his relief, but Kuroko can handle it much better than he could.

“No one.” Kuroko says flatly. He doesn’t even look up from the girl’s face. Her right eye is entirely red, no iris, no pupil, just a deep, scarlet red, faintly facetted like a gem stone.

“I don’t think so.” Schwarz laces his voice with a threat that neatly glances off Kuroko’s indifference. Sometimes, Shigehiro is impressed by the sheer gall Kuroko has. But then again, he has the guns to back it up. Kuroko grabs the girl’s hair and yanks her head back.

“Leave me alone.” The girl snaps. She grips Kuroko’s arm and holds it with surprising strength. There are faint lines on her skin, interlocking and curling up her arms and disappearing under her sleeves, picking up a glow with every passing second. An alchemistic seal. So that’s how they faked her illness. She pushes Kuroko’s arm away as the glow increases even more, invoking the power stored in the scriptures.

“Quite callous I must say.” Baron Schwarz comments almost casually. He seems to adept easily to the changing circumstances. “You made her into a transmutation circle. Utilizing the stone to offer her strength. Quite the masterpiece I must say. But you faked more than just the rot, didn’t you? You left nothing the same. Quite the work of art I must say.”

“Leave her alone.” The man is a pile on the floor, blubbering more than speaking, but there is something in his eyes when he glares at Kuroko. Not even the threat of Carmine seems to temper his anger. Shigehiro has the distinct feeling; it is not the girl he is worried about.

Kuroko touches his other hand to the girl’s arm and the alchemy fizzles out with a small puff. Someone inhales sharply behind them. The fear in the girl’s true eye is real now.

“You may blame this on your bad luck.” Kuroko says without a shred of emotion.

Shigehiro realizes a moment too late what Kuroko is about to do. He moves forward reflexively, hand outstretched in a futile attempt to stop what is already inevitable.

She screams when Kuroko digs his fingers into her eye socket. Blood gushes over his hand. Shigehiro feels his bile rise and has to turn away, hands falling uselessly to his side. He can’t stand the sight of eye trauma, but maybe even more so the absence of any sign of remorse in Kuroko’s eyes. To him this means nothing.

He can look away, but he can’t block out the sounds. Even through the girl’s screams he can hear the wet squelching sound as Kuroko digs the stone out of her skull.

He doesn’t need to look to know the girl’s dress is covered in blood.

The screams die down into chocked sobs. Shigehiro turns back around but very carefully doesn’t look at the corner where the girl lies collapsed.

“I commend your efficiency.” The Baron says with amusement that can’t quite veil the shock underneath. Carmine has moved from the collapsed man, hands almost casually buried in her pockets. “Now, if you were so kind and hand the tear over?”

Kuroko stands. He holds a red stone in his blood covered hand. The look in his eyes sends a shudder down Shigehiro’s spine. He’s suddenly aware of how dangerous the situation is right now. He has nothing to protect himself with and is entirely reliant on Kuroko’s benevolence. A benevolence that seems impossibly far away right now.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Kuroko says. He stares down at the stone in his hand. It’s covered in blood, but Shigehiro thinks he can see a pulsing light in its depth.

Baron Schwarz regards him for a moment, before a small smirk curls on his lips. He makes a covert gesture with his hand and Carmine glides forward with all the grace of a prowling tigress. “That’s a shame. Well, it’s been a pleasure meeting you. My assistant will see you out the door.”

Carmine moves before Schwarz has finished his sentence, reaching for Kuroko with hands that have been sheathed into long metal claws. The faint glow of magic trails behind her and that’s about all Shigehiro can make out before they’re lost in a flurry of motion.

There’s a slow rise of panic in his chest. He doesn’t fear for Kuroko’s life, but he has earnest concerns about his own wellbeing. Kuroko is in a very dangerous state of mind right now. The only hope Shigehiro has is that he hasn’t yet killed anyone. As macabre as it sounds, that is a good sign.

Shigehiro is so distracted by his thoughts and panic that he realizes too late when Schwarz moves. He tries to evade, but before he can really move he’s hit by something with overwhelming force. It’s not physical despite the concussive feel to it, but more like someone hit his brain with a sledgehammer.

He can’t move, can’t even string a coherent line of thoughts together. The world around him seems to unravel at the seams, dissolving and then reassembling over and over again into shapes that don’t make sense. He tries to regain clarity but fails. He’s falling and floating at the same time. Somewhere, he can hear a faint pulsing, like the beating of drums. It’s fast at first but then slows until it becomes only a faint whisper. Color leeches from his vision, leaving everything a grey slush of constant regurgitating shapes.

A lonely thread of thought in his mind flutters past, but he can’t quite grasp on to it.

And then the world snaps back into sharp and clear focus. His heart kicks up in a painful beat and the lonely thought suddenly becomes clear. He had been dying. The drums had been his heartbeat, dangerously close to stopping.

Shigehiro has only a moment of utter shock and horror, the image in front of him unrealistically bright and cut in stark contrast burns into his retina. Then a hand slips in his and the world in front of his eyes unravels once again.

Carmine scoffs.

“It is of no matter.” Schwarz bends to pick up his arm from the floor. Everything is covered in blood and a significant amount is his own. “We got something much better in return.” He presses the severed arm to the stump that still gushes blood. He dives into the well of his power and carefully arranges the molecules that make up his body back into their original state.

“If you consider more trouble something better.” Carmine says with disdain. She picks off a piece of lint from her suit, completely disregarding the blood splattered on her sleeves. There is a long cut on her right arm, blood still seeping into the surrounding fabric. She doesn’t pay it any mind.

“I thought it was getting boring?” Schwarz asks and reaches out for her arm. It takes a mere thought to rearrange the molecular makeup of the skin and tissue to close the wound. Really, it _had_ gotten boring. There is nothing he couldn’t do.

Well, except for one thing.

“He ruined my suit.” Carmine says in way of explanation.

Schwarz just smiles and the suit mends itself obediently. Carmine scoffs again.

“That man was able to slip right through your hands. I hope you are not just getting needlessly excited about a _challenge_. That is so high school sports drama.”

“His powers are quite something.” Schwarz has never before _seen_ something quite like that. It was like the man had been surrounded by a cloud of nothing. And he hadn’t even noticed the man’s presence until he had revealed himself. Troublesome indeed.

“I appreciate a good challenge as much as anyone. But that is not the reason. No, if he crosses our paths again I will kill him. After I relieve him of all the tears he kindly collected for us.”

“So what is this great thing you discovered?” Carmine makes no secret of how much it annoys her to have to coax the answer out of him. That’s part of why he likes her. She doesn’t bother to hide her feelings.

“He was quite forthcoming when I touched him. And hecarried the signature of a time weaver. A quite powerful weaver if I say so myself. I expect we will be rather busy, my dear. The time weaver will tell us where to find the other tears. And after, we will be going on a bit of a manhunt. Although I do suspect we might run into our dear new friend sooner or later.”

“What about them?” Carmine gestures to the two people on the floor. The girl has lost consciousness and the stage master has become a blubbering and quite pathetic mess.

Schwarz doesn’t even pretend to think about it. “Kill them.” Carmine’s lips curl into a smile and her eyes glint. He would be afraid of that expression if he hadn’t been the one who ripped the compassion from her heart.

The wet sounds of blood spilling follow him outside the backroom. The bodyguard still stands there, eternally frozen. His heart has stopped and he is already dead but Schwarz decides to leave him there. He adds an artful taste.

He hadn’t gotten his hands on the tear, but he is more than satisfied with the encounter. He had wanted to get his hands on a weaver for a very long time now.

“What was that?” Shigehiro chokes out after he is done retching. Kuroko doesn’t reply. Shigehiro pulls himself together, or attempts to but the cracks are showing. He turns to look at his companion. Kuroko stares at the _Nyama_ in his hands. The blood is gone now, consumed by the void but Shigehiro can’t quite forget its sight.

There is a faraway look in Kuroko’s eyes.

“Hey.” Shigehiro says gently and touches a very careful hand to Kuroko’s shoulder. The void surges up and Shigehiro flinches back. He doesn’t’ retreat though.

He has no idea where they are - some kind of forest area, probably Northern Hemisphere - and he’d prefer it if they weren’t exposed out in the open like that. He kind of feels on edge. Well, he has all the reasons to.

“Kuroko.” Shigehiro says more firmly now. Kuroko blinks but doesn’t look away from the stone. “Remember why you’re doing this? You know Akashi Seijuurou, love of your live and very disappointed lover if he found out you transformed into a forest gnome?”

Kuroko blinks, startled and looks at him. _Oh thank goodness_. “Why would I turn into a forest gnome?”

“Well, you were standing around unmoving. The undergrowth would have eventually claimed you and you have to admit you are not the tallest person around. Besides, all those bushes must weigh one down.”

Kuroko purses his lips. “I am perfectly average for a male of my age.”

“Yeah, and how old is that again?”

Kuroko looks away. “We should go.”

“Good idea. Where are we even?”

“Carpathians.”

“Where? Wait no, it doesn’t matter. I’d rather you tell me what the-“ He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because Kuroko takes his hand again and the scenery around them vanishes only to be replaced by an entirely different one.

“You just don’t want to tell me, do you?” Shigehiro accuses once he has gathered his bearings. Void-travel is bad enough when prepared, but out of the blue it just messes with his insides.

Kuroko gives him an inquisitive look. They are in one of the many, many safe houses Kuroko owns all over the planet. Kyoto, if he judges the décor and the view outside correctly. He can’t say this is good. The Kyoto safe house is _special._ It doesn’t have the same impersonal aura that all the other safe houses have. For once, it looks as though people actually live here. People mainly being Shigehiro on down times.

“Apologies, Ogiwara-kun. I have yet to wrap my head around what just occurred.”

“You are kidding right?”

Kuroko tilts his head.

“Okay, no kidding. Just tell me what happened when you figure it out, okay? I would like to know what just almost killed me.”

The tiniest lines appear on Kuroko’s forehead. “I have seen powers like this before. If they are the same powers, Ogiwara-kun should have been dead already.”

“Now I feel better.” Shigehiro expels a sigh and decides it’s time he sits down. He doesn’t quite want to think about all the implications. But it’s not that he can just ignore it.

Kuroko calls a burlap sack into his palms with a twist of his hand. A bright clinking sound gives a hint towards its content. Shigehiro rubs his temples, tries to make sense of the questions whirling in his mind.

“What was that power?”

Kuroko stills. In his hand he holds the newly required _Nyama,_ suspended above the opening of the burlap sack. “I am not sure. But Schwarz’s powers are very similar to…” Kuroko has to take a moment to collect himself. “Someone I once knew.” The way he says it lets Shigehiro think of Akashi immediately. And that means something really nasty.

“So, reality bending?”

Kuroko flinches. Actually flinches. He drops the _Nyama_ into the sack, an action that seemingly startles him. “I can only hope it is not that.” Kuroko says. He doesn’t look at Shigehiro while taking his time in closing the sack.

“Well, he certainly bent my mind.” Shigehiro shudders at the memory. “Let’s hope he was just messing with me. Thanks for saving me, by the way.” He says it casually, but the truth is, Shigehiro is pretty much awed. Kuroko accepts his presence and even drags him along on his journey, but stepping into the line of fire for him is an entire different thing.

He never thought Kuroko would go this far for him.

“Of course.” Kuroko says and Shigehiro finds himself stunned to find he sounds like he actually means it.

Kuroko leaves him shortly after. For once, Shigehiro decides to stay in their hideout, rather than visit Sesha. He has much to think about and while Sesha could provide answers, he wants to let things settle first.

So Shigehiro brews himself some tea and settles in the living room. He tries a book but gives up soon enough. There is nothing on the TV either and other than those two things, the apartment offers little for entertainment.

Kuroko’s ability allows him to live forever - or at least for a substantial amount of time - but it comes - as always - with a price. He drains life energy from others, and that is truly one of the most ironic things Shigehiro has ever witnessed. Kuroko can drain the lives of thousands of people, could fuel his own lifespan with stolen time, rejuvenate himself, _heal a deadly injury_ \- he has all this energy at his disposal, but he can only use it for himself. It is quite tragic really.

There is a shogi board in one of the cupboards, hidden away under a thick layer of dust. On a sideboard is a helmet, the kind a rider would use. Next to it are a pair of gloves and a riding crop leans against the back wood of the cupboard. On the floor sits a deflated basketball. And there, tucked in the corner is a small ornamental wooden box, intrinsically carved but chipped and discolored with age.

Shigehiro hesitates to pick up the wooden box. It seems old and heavy with memories. The rest of the apartment is rather old as well but in very good shape, although subject to dust as everything else. The items in the cupboard seem out of place. Heirlooms from another time. Reminders of a life that is long past. He has no right to pry into what is hidden inside.

Before he can close the cupboard again, the light catches on something at the back. Shigehiro picks up a candle from the kitchen and uses it to light the cupboard’s insides. There is an alchemistic circle painted on the back, barely standing out against the dark wood. The sigils have faded into non-legibility. From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem to be active anymore.

Maybe it was there to preserve the items stored inside. Or maybe it was supposed to keep nosy people away. It is impossible to say with most of the runes faded the way they are.

Shigehiro closes the cupboard. It may take a while for Kuroko to return, but he’d rather not pry into his secrets. He has a good enough idea what is inside the box anyway. He may be curious about the man that is the root as well as the cause of all of this, but Kuroko’s secrets are his own.

Shigehiro settles back into the living room. His tea has gone cold but Shigehiro is too lazy to brew another cup.

Tetsuya rarely speaks of Akashi. Something about him always seems to break open when he does. And it’s through these cracks that Shigehiro has started to slowly piece together their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we'll be meeting Akashi, yay.


	3. Tetsuya I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for future reference:  
> Shigehiro chapters follow the present of the storyline (but would be set in the future from our point of view), while Tetsuya chapters depict the character's past (from our point of view it would be more like the present).

“As much as I hate to say it, but this is not a case we can crack with normal means.” Aida Riko’s eyes were hard, but even so, she didn’t hide the worry in them. “I have Kagami in the hospital, Kiyoshi is still in physical rehabilitation and Hyuuga and Izuki are working on another case. Which leaves us with two half-baked detectives that I can’t yet trust to pull their weight and you.” Aida grimaced and it was easy to see what she thought of that. “Don’t get me wrong, you are one of my best men. Well, my best actually. Don’t tell Hyuuga I said that. Or Kagami. Just don’t tell anyone.” Aida sighed, now annoyed. “Anyway, you’re good but we need something better than good.”

Tetsuya evaluated her for a moment. She was building up to something, but not quite there yet. “How is Kagami-kun?” He asked to pull her off her train of thoughts.

Aida sighed. She had been assigned chief of the police’s counter-magic department at a rather young age. After being in office for less than three years she had resigned the position and instead taken over as head of the special investigation unit for aberrant magic - SIU for short. The Tokyo unit had become one of the most successful and prolific units in the world under her leadership. She was a skilled leader with a brilliant mind but sometimes she tended to get lost in the tracks of that very same mind.

But even with a team as skilled as theirs, things didn’t always go as planned. As evidenced by a very recent incident.

“Well enough. He’s got an impressive list of injuries and will be out of commission for a while, but he’s not in any life threatening danger. He got lucky, considering.” Aida sighed again. The last few days had left traces on her face. Her short brown hair was unkempt and kept back by clips that appeared about to fall out any minute now. Her eyes were lined with heavy bags and she seemed less sharp than usual.

“Quite frankly, if he were anyone else...” Aida made a loose hand gesture, inviting Tetsuya to fill in the blanks her words had left. He didn’t like thinking of it, but what Aida said was true. The only reason Kagami had survived the attack was because he was who he was - the most powerful and strongest registered ability user in their branch, and definitely among the top percentile of ability users in Japan. A lot of that strength could be attributed to Kagami’s outstanding instincts and control over his ability.

It was thanks to Kagami that Kuroko was alive. And that said a lot, considering that Tetsuya was no easy opponent himself, even if he had no magical talent whatsoever.

Aida rummaged through the drawers of her desk, a deep frown etched on her face. “We can’t always count on getting lucky.” She muttered and then finally pulled something from the bottom drawer.

It was a small metal data nodule, formed by multiple brass parts interlocking with each other, forming into a small rectangular shape. The parts were movable against each other, forming a complex encryption puzzle around the data inside. “I’ve collected every bit of data and information we got on the case.” She demonstrated the opening combination before tossing the nodule to Tetsuya. “I added some extra encryption spells on the data itself, but they should deactivate as soon as Kuroko-kun touches them.” Her lips curled into a sly smirk. “In case you lose it on the way.“

There were easier means of storing data these days, but Aida was an alchemist at her core. She would always consider her craft as superior. It did have its advantages, Tetsuya had to admit.

Tetsuya carefully put the nodule down on the desk in front of him. Aida had a penchant for including nasty traps in her work. Really nasty traps. “Do I have to worry when someone else touches it?” Tetsuya asked just to be on the safe side.

Aida’s smile was feral. “Don’t worry.” She said cheerfully. “I’ve included a trap charge, but nothing too badly. Just a bit of electrocution.”

“I was afraid of that.” Tetsuya muttered under his breath. He got a whack with a rolled up newspaper for his efforts.

“Don’t get smart with me.” Aida said with an annoyed line between her eyebrows. “This is a bit much, I realize that.” She sighed. “I would not do this, if it were not absolutely necessary. But this data absolutely can’t fall into the wrong hands.” She threw him a glance, considering. “Kuroko-kun will understand soon enough.”

Tetsuya acknowledged her words with a nod. “What is next?” He asked. He felt a certain tension in his bones, an itch in his fingers to go and do something. Their enemy almost killed Kagami and Tetsuya wanted nothing more than to put an end to their schemes. “I presume you want me to go after them.” He didn’t phrase it as a question. They both knew it wasn’t one.

“Indeed.” Aida said and leaned back in her chair. “The council has personally asked me to catch the culprits _._ I was told very firmly that failure was not an option.” Her lips twitched but she didn’t allow herself the luxury to show her disdain with an expression.“They don’t appreciate one of their own being abducted. It doesn’t help that we have few clues to go on. A crazy cult with absurd amounts of fire power.” Aida shook her head. “And here I thought we were past the age of religious fundamentalism.”

“It may be merely a smokescreen to cover up political intentions.”

“You think that?” Aida said with a snort.

Tetsuya frowned slightly and thought back to the encounter he and Kagami had with the ‘cultists’. Councilor Kinogawa had been allegedly abducted from his home, at least that was where he had been seen last. Kagami and Tetsuya had decided to go there one last time to see if they had overlooked some critical evidence - an act of desperation with the entire state council of Japan breathing down their necks. The site had already been closed as all evidence has supposedly been collected. But Kagami had had a hunch and it wasn’t as though they’d had any other leads to follow.

What they had walked in ultimately, was something neither of them could have expected, however. Four hooded men reciting incantations and a large ritual circle on the ground drawn with blood, right in the middle of Kinogawa’s living room. They’d both been caught off guard and that had almost been their undoing, as the men employed a veritable arsenal of increasingly dangerous spells.

“If it is, it’s working.” He eventually said. Aida rolled her eyes. “I am fairly convinced they are fanatical cultists, trying to summon the devil or something equally absurd.”

“About that.” Aida said grimly. “The council received a rather disturbing message this very morning.”

“Not a ransom demand then.” Tetsuya concluded with one look at Aida’s face.

She shook her head. “If only. It was a severed finger with an odd symbol carved into it.”

Tetsuya’s stomach communicated its displeasure at the thought. He felt faintly ill. “I assume the finger is from councilor Kinogawa.” Aida nodded. “And the rune, alchemy?”

“No, and that’s the bad part. It seems to be a sort of rune, but it isn’t any rune I have ever seen. If it’s alchemy or even magic, it’s in a form I have no experience with. The magical analysis department is trying to decipher it, but they haven’t come up with anything yet. And that is what worries me.”

“It could be a random sign to distract us.” Tetsuya pointed out.

“Yes, but it also could be something new and dangerous. Or a message. Who knows, it could be a brownie recipe for all we know. At least we figured out what the circle in councilor Kinogawa’s house means.” Aida pulled a sheet of paper from the clutter on her desk, upsetting the equilibrium of a precariously stacked pile of books on the matter of conjuring. It almost collapsed, but Aida steadied it absently with one hand. She handed Tetsuya the sheet. “It’s a summoning circle.”

Tetsuya took it, but fixed his eyes on Aida. “Summoning circles are-“

“Myths, I know.” She waved her hand. “No use drawing a circle on the ground, when there is nothing to summon. But the fact is, there was a circle and the runes were clearly meant to invite _something_ in. Unless our guys misinterpreted the meaning. Which is unlikely, considering that the basic outline of the circle is derived from the circles that were used by a rather infamous cult that was active in the late seventeenth century. They held the firm belief that God could be summoned into our realm by way of blood sacrifices. We might as well be dealing with a revived chapter of said cult. That is all speculation of course.”

Tetsuya finally looked at the sheet. It was a crude sketch of an alchemic circle, one with remarkable complexity. Back at Kinogawa’s apartment, he hadn’t had the time to take a good look at the circle. But now he took careful measure of the inscribed symbols. He recognized some of the runes, but others he had never seen before.

“There’s also the matter of the blood that was used. It’s most definitely human blood, from at least three different people. We don’t know whose blood it is, if it was given voluntarily or if yet another crime is involved. There are a lot of questions that need answers. So far, I had Izuki check the missing person files, but nothing has turned up. We’ve tried matching its magic signature to the same effect.” She sighed and rubbed a hand over her eyes. “The council’s breathing down my neck since this whole thing started. They expect this to be resolved quickly.”

“There is only so much I can do.” Tetsuya said slowly.

“I know. That’s why you’re not going alone. These people have already proven to be quite the threat. Normally, I would sic our entire unit on them, but we have to give priority to our dear ability killer. That one has been proven to kill people. And we are short-staffed as it is.” She grimaced. “I’ve been filing for an increase of personnel for years but it’s always the same excuse. Our work is valuable but restricted to a very small niche, as the regular police is perfectly equipped to deal with most magic cases.” She waved her hands in an exaggerated manner. “And then stuff like this happens and all of a sudden we’re expected to pull of miracles.”

“The matter is quite serious.” Tetsuya said slowly.

“It is. But no one wants to hear talk about cultists. That’s not a thing and it is not supposed to become a thing. I am aware how serious this is, Kuroko-kun. We all are. But in the eyes of the council this is just a matter of a few political dissidents that want to stir up trouble before the election. And I wish it were just a smokescreen as Kuroko-kun said. But I have a bad feeling about this. Misguided or not, these people _believe_ in what they do.”

“But why abduct a council member? If not for ransom or a political statement. I agree with Aida-san, but I am not sure what this implies.”

“Me neither. This is a delicate situation. This has the potential to be a much more serious matter than one - albeit prolific - serial killer on the loose. I am scared that it might come to that. But I can’t legitimately pull off my main force from a serial killer case to investigate a bunch of crazy lunatics that play as a cult.”

Tetsuya tapped his chin. “I see. We are expected to find councilor Kinogawa as fast as possible, because of his position and it is what is expected, but we are not supposed to put much effort into it, because we can’t acknowledge that a _cult_ is actually a threat. Especially when the public mind is most concerned about a serial killer, a case that has much more impact on the political stage, regarding elections.”

“Huh,” Aida said somewhat dumbfounded. “I couldn’t have said it better. It’s good Kuroko-kun understands the situation. Regardless of what the council thinks, we have to take this seriously. That is why I have decided to put Kuroko-kun on this case. Along with a bodyguard.”

“A bodyguard?” Tetsuya frowned. “Why a bodyguard? Wouldn’t it make more sense to find another investigator?”

“It would. But that doesn’t mean they grow on trees.” Aida sighed. She seemed tired all of a sudden. “I’m sorry Kuroko-kun. But this s the best I can do. We are stretched thin as it is. And I simply can’t give priority to a case that has produced nothing but smoke so far. Well, and a severed finger. I couldn’t possible justify it.”

“I understand.” Tetsuya said. “Whoever these people are, they want something. I am quite sure that councilor Kinogawa is safe for now. The same can’t be said for ability users at the moment.”

Aida sighed for what must be the tenth time since their conversation started. She had started tapping her fingers against the hardwood of her desk. “That is unfortunately the case. But that’s not all of it. The councilor’s case isn’t as clean cut as it seems.” Tetsuya raised an eyebrow and Aida scowled. “Okay, it is not clean cut at all, but you know what I mean. We’ve got issues beyond crazy cultists.”

“That sounds unpleasant.”

Aida grimaced and ran a hand through her already quite messy hair, dislodging one of her pins. It clattered on the desk but Aida ignored it. “You don’t say.” She gave him a hard look. “This needs to stay between us, but certain… parties within the council welcome the absence of Kinogawa. I am not going as far as to say they are behind it, but…” She shrugged. “They have oh so kindly reminded me of my duty to protect the citizens of our beloved country.” She said with clear mocking in her voice. But despite her words, the worry was clearly evident in her eyes. She was giving Tetsuya as best a warning as she could.

“I understand.” Tetsuya said and stood. “Please take care of Kagami-kun.” He reached for the nodule and picked it up. Despite the magic Aida had infused it with, Tetsuya didn’t feel so much as a tingle. “Who is my bodyguard?”

Aida flinched. The faintest expression of guilt crossed her face. “It is the best choice for the situation.” She said and it sounded an awful lot like defending. “I prepared a file. It contains all the documents and the instructions needed for the release.” She looked away at his inquisitive look. “You will have to go and fetch him yourself. He… well, he is not known to be friendly to outsiders. But he can’t harm you.”

“He could harm me physically.” Tetsuya felt the need to point out. Aida flinched again.

“He won’t.” Aida said firmly. “Now go. I called ahead and announced your arrival.”

The Tateyama high security containment facility was a looming silhouette against the backdrop of Tokyo bay. The facility had been built on the Western-most point of the Boso peninsula, overlooking the entry into Tokyo bay. The peninsula surrounding the facility had been closed off to the public and transformed into a gated housing community for rehabilitation and reintegration of criminal ability and magic users. The area was surrounded by a magical charged steel fence and high guard towers at regular intervals.

Despite its misleading name, it was very much a prison.

Tetsuya’s car was stopped at the entrance gate, and he had to show the permit Aida had given him. The guard only took a short look at it before waving him through. Getting out was the part that was going to be difficult. Tetsuya parked his car in one of the spots at the visitor’s parking lot right inside the wall. One of the guards waited for him with a specially armed jeep to escort him to his destination. The jeep had a machine gun rack mounted on its truck bed and that, more than anything, told Tetsuya of the desolate situation that Tateyama’s ’inhabitants’ faced.

“As a deterrent.” The guard said with a shrug, when he noticed Tetsuya stared at the gun. The barrel was stained dark around the muzzle, as though it had been in use recently. The guard started the engine and pushed one of the many buttons on the dashboard. There was a flicker of light around them, running along the car’s chassis. A magical defense shield to block attacks.

On a very cursory glance, the community could fool one into thinking it was just that, a community of likeminded people. Neat little houses were lined along neat little streets. But it didn’t need much of a second glance to dispel that illusion rather quickly. Most houses were old and some seemed close to collapsing, the yards were patches of dirt more often than not and everything seemed to be covered in at least two layers of grime. The few people Tetsuya could see scuttled away as soon as they spotted the car, fear and reproach clearly visible on their faces.

Aida had provided him with some background info about the facility - a private institution that was subsidized by the government - and Tetsuya had a good idea about what was really going on behind the high walls. Izuki had dug deep into the secrets of the facility.

Criminals above a certain risk threshold and the abilities to back them up were confined in the containment facility, which allegedly was the highest security prison in Japan and absolutely impenetrable to any forms of magic. By the time their sentence was served, inmates had to stay an additional three years in the community to ‘ascertain their aptitude for societal reintegration’.

The facility had a decent turnover and a lot of ‘criminals’ were successfully reintegrated into society. But there were also a large number of inmates, as well as inhabitants that never made it outside the walls again after admission. The reason, _of course_ , lay with their psychological conditions and once it was determined that they could not function outside a restricted environment, they were detained for good. Aida had left a note in the files, wondering just how many of these cases were fabricated to keep people of interest locked up. It was no coincidence, Tetsuya thought, that most of these cases pertained users with rather unique abilities.

But criminals only made one half of the community’s inhabitants. The other half and that was the one Tetsuya’s future bodyguard belonged to, were those ability or magic users who had been admitted due to their instable psychic conditions, mental illnesses or other concerns that made them a danger to society. On paper, these were the inhabitants that were free to leave whenever, as long as their supervising psychologists had no concerns about their and their surrounding’s wellbeing. In reality, few of these people ever left the community after admission.

According to the files Aida had given him, his target was the son of a rich businessman, poised to take over the company in the future, but then something had changed in the young scion, leading to conspicuous behavior and ultimately a breakdown. There was little information about the actual incident, but from what Aida had gathered, it must have been quite the nasty affair. His own father was the one who admitted him.

The car left the main residential area behind and followed a winding street up a small hill. There were a few trees scattered here and there. It looked like the most half-assed attempt at a forest Tetsuya had ever seen.

In the middle of the trees stood a house; it was larger than most of the houses down the hill and significantly better kept. There was even a small garden patch in the front. Considering the neighborhood standard, this was as close as it got to a luxury residency.

“There it is. You got to get him yourself. If you’re not back in ten, I’ll leave without you.” The guard said. He was staring at the house with a deep frown and Tetsuya didn’t miss how his hand had moved to the magic stun rod in his belt. He had a nervous tic, tapping his index finger against the handle in an arrhythmic beat. A part of Tetsuya’s mind - one that never quite slept - couldn’t help but take note of that tic.

The guard caught Tetsuya’s cool glance. “Alright, just kidding. No need to get your panties in a twist. I’m under strict orders to bring you back safely.” He grumbled and made to stare sullenly out the window. Tetsuya mentally shook his head before he finally exited the vehicle. It was perhaps understandable that the guard was not too thrilled about having to come into close proximity with what as likely the most powerful and therefore most dangerous ability user in the whole of Japan. As soon as the door closed, the blue light of the magical shield flickered to life again.

Outside, the air was warmed by the sun, but still carried a distinct chill. It was April and the weather had been rather unreliable lately. Some days it was warm and sunny like this day, on others it was so cold that it actually snowed. It made clothing choices quite difficult.

There was a small path that led from the road to the front door. It was made from heavy concrete plates set into the ground, but the stones had been long reclaimed by moss and earth.

Tetsuya swallowed. He couldn’t keep being distracted by the small details.

He gripped his bag tighter and approached the front door. There was no doorbell so Tetsuya lifted his arm and knocked. There was no answer at first, but then, after what seemed like an eternity, the door opened. Behind it was a man just about his height, maybe a few centimeters taller. He had unruly red hair that looked a bit like it had been cut by someone with little patience or regard for symmetry. It hung in messy bangs over his eyes, but even so, it did little to mask the sharp look in them. Tetsuya felt inadvertently enthralled by those eyes - eyes in a deep intense red, matching the hue of his hair almost perfectly - and the piercing intensity that seemed to hone in on him instantly.

(Not unlike a rabbit caught in the snake’s gaze.)

“Now that’s a surprise.” The man said and Tetsuya couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his spine. He had a pleasant voice, smooth and melodious, but every word seemed to be lined with an invisible command. Tetsuya got the feeling that little of what this man said was without meaning.

“Akashi Seijuurou?” Tetsuya asked, falling back to the same flat and indifferent tone that served him so well in difficult interrogations.

The man’s eyes flickered to the parked car, yet his expression remained unchanged. He looked back at Tetsuya and he had to repress another shiver at the cold intensity in those eyes. “Yes.” He said evenly.

Tetsuya took a deep breath. “My name is Kuroko Tetsuya. I am a detective with the SIU. I have a proposition for you. May I come in?”

Akashi raised an eyebrow in a perfectly measured gesture of disdainful amusement. But he stepped to the side and let Tetsuya in without a word. Tetsuya jostled against him as he stepped through the narrow entryway. He felt an odd little jolt - like a spark of magical charged energy - at the short contact. Akashi didn’t react to it all and Tetsuya decided to ignore it.

Akashi led him into a spacious living room, with a large couch in its center. There was a plush armchair to the side and a small coffee table in the middle, a few stray books on top. More books filled the bookcases lining two of the walls, floor to ceiling. Light streamed in through a window that overlooked the bay area in the distance behind a few scattered trees. Facing the sofa was a table that looked like it was built to hold a TV, but was instead stacked with various alchemistic apparatuses, something Tetsuya was quite sure was forbidden for inhabitants of the community.

Akashi ignored his pointed look and sat down in the arm chair. He didn’t invite Tetsuya to sit down so he kept standing, unwilling to breach the rules of propriety. Somehow he got the feeling Akashi was amused by that.

Tetsuya fidgeted slightly under Akashi’s heavy gaze. Akashi made no attempt to speak up so Tetsuya took another deep breath and started with his, admittedly, rehearsed speech. He explained the situation in short words and then laid out the proposal Aida had drafted for him. Everything went well until he came to the conditions. Akashi was to listen to everything Tetsuya said, and to assure his obedience, he was to wear an enchanted collar that would release a powerful magical charge, enough to knock him out or even kill, upon the activation of a trigger that Tetsuya would carry on him at all times.

Akashi’s eyes flickered with an odd light. He narrowed his eyes, looking at Tetsuya as though he was an interesting medical specimen. Like what he just said merited no more than curiously amused interest.

“I can’t quite see your point.” Akashi eventually said, slight amusement tingeing his voice. “What makes you think I would be willing to give up my comparable freedom to play babysitter? I don’t particular care about the council.” Akashi’s smile was sardonic. “If anything, I am delighted to hear they have run into trouble.”

Tetsuya exhaled. “The council has agreed to offer Akashi-san a clean slate upon completion of the contract. He will be released unconditionally to do as he pleases.” Tetsuya steeled himself, “regardless of consequences.”

The expression on Akashi’s face was not surprise but something that came rather close, incredulousness maybe. “They must be in quite the bind then,” he said with obvious amusement. “Say, how likely is it that they will hold their word?”

Tetsuya leveled him with an even look. “It is not the council that dictates the conditions. They have merely offered their agreement. I will personally oversee that everything is carried out in its intended order.”

Akashi raised an eyebrow. “There is something I have been curious about for quite a while now.” He said offhandedly. Then he moved, faster than human possible. Tetsuya took a reflexive step back, but by that time Akashi already had his hand against Tetsuya’s temple. His fingers felt faintly cold. Akashi’s eyes up close seemed to be alight with an oddly golden glow, like sunlight pouring over a red canvas.

They stood like that for a moment, before Tetsuya exhaled the breath he had been holding. “That doesn’t work on me, Akashi-san.” He said evenly. Magic, abilities, no matter its guise, none of it worked on Tetsuya. For one reason or another, he was immune to magic in all its forms. Even if it came in the hands of Akashi Seijuurou, whose ability allowed him to bend reality at the tips of his fingers.

Akashi’s eyes seemed to shift then, the golden tinge disappearing into a deep scarlet ocean. His eyebrows twitched minutely and Tetsuya could see the faint tension in his jaw. Then Akashi stepped back.

Tetsuya took a calming breath, but his heart would likely keep its frantic pace for a while. He could only hope Akashi didn’t notice it. “These are the terms I can offer to Akashi-san,” he said with projected calm he didn’t really feel. “It is entirely up to him if he wants to accept or not. Accepting, however, means Akashi-san will have to agree to the presented terms, including the collar.”

Akashi evaluated him for a long moment. There was the faintest note of intrigue in Akashi’s expression, barely there; except Tetsuya had spent years watching people and their quirks and he knew how to read through masks.

“Very well.” Akashi said with a voice as smooth as honey. “I have no reason to comply. But I am curious.” The smile Akashi graced him with was very close to malicious. “I will grant you your wish, but know this,” Akashi leveled the whole intensity of his burning gaze on Tetsuya. “You will hold up your end of the bargain.” There was no ‘or else’, no threat attached, but Tetsuya still felt a chill chase down his spine. (Something in the way Akashi had phrased it, let Tetsuya think of contracts and demons, but demons didn’t exist and Akashi - for all his power - was still only human.)

“Sit down.” Akashi ordered and moved back into his armchair. “I suppose you want me to sign something?”

Tetsuya nodded and sank onto the sofa. His legs, he belatedly realized, were shaking.

He laid out the documents of the contract and Akashi made a point to read all of it. Tetsuya waited patiently. By the time Akashi had finished, his heart had long since calmed down and Tetsuya had shaken the incident from his system. Not from his mind though. He couldn’t quite forget the fire in Akashi’s eyes.

Akashi tapped his fingers against the sheets and Tetsuya stared for a moment before scrambling to get a pen from his bag. Akashi didn’t look at him and merely signed his name in quick elegant kanji strokes. _Purity_. It seemed so arbitrary a name and yet it fit Akashi in a way Tetsuya could not describe.

Then it was his turn and he put his name - sloppy, but that couldn’t be helped, next to the perfection that was Akashi’s calligraphy - next to Akashi’s. The last step was the addition of a magical seal - prepared by Aida in advance, as Tetsuya had not a blip of talent for magic in his bones - and the contract was done. The seal was theoretically in place to bind the two parties to their word, but with Tetsuya in the equation it was merely a formality. He had the feeling that something similar could be said for Akashi.

Tetsuya carefully collected the sheets and put them back in their folder. Akashi watched with unreadable eyes. He couldn’t help the shaking of his hands when he took out the collar. It was made from thin black leather, inscribed with runes on the inside and imbued with magic and alchemic seals. The magic was dormant and would only be activated once Akashi’s magical signature had been recorded.

Tetsuya made a point of warning Akashi of the dangers of meddling with the spells, but Akashi only gave him a faintly amused look that spoke how much he thought of the threat.

Akashi didn’t make a move to help Tetsuya put the collar on him. He merely sat there quietly; eyes following Tetsuya with the lazy interest a lion affected an antelope when he already had his fill for the day. Tetsuya fumbled against his will and his fingers brushed against Akashi’s skin, smooth and warm and he could feel the pulsing of blood like the rush of the ocean tide ashore. Tetsuya ignored the thudding of his own heart. He closed the collar and adjusted it.

“Is this too tight?” He asked, glad that even while his heart was shaken, his voice remained its usual calm.

Akashi tilted his head with no regards for the fingers still clasped between collar and his neck. “You might want to tighten it.” He said with more of that faint amusement.

Tetsuya could feel heat rising in his cheeks and he looked away from Akashi’s stare. He adjusted the collar again and then finally removed his hands. The collar sat there, snugly against Akashi’s skin. A moment later a rune appeared on the small tag at the front of the collar, signaling that it was now primed and ready.

The remote control in Tetsuya’s pocket felt heavy like it was made from lead. He hadn’t liked the idea, even Aida hadn’t liked the idea, but it was one of the stipulations the council had placed on them before agreeing to release Akashi into Tetsuya’s care.

And even though his life had just been placed in the hands of another, Akashi didn’t seem at all perturbed. The amusement had yet to fade and Akashi reached up to adjust the collar into a more comfortable position with a casualness that belied the nature of his shackle. Tetsuya couldn’t help but wonder just who had been bound to whom.

Akashi didn’t pack anything. He did not have many possessions outside his book collection and the illegal alchemic equipment. Tetsuya offered him some space in his apartment for anything he might want to bring, but Akashi declined. The way Akashi acted; it didn’t seem he expected this expedition to take long. Somehow, that thought saddened Tetsuya.

The car ride back to the gate was clouded in awkward silence. The jeep only had one row of seats, so Akashi had to squeeze in next to Tetsuya on the thankfully broad passenger bench-wide seat. Tetsuya tried his best not to be hyper-aware of their closeness, or the warmth he could feel seeping through his clothes.

The guard sent them dirty glances about every ten seconds. He was clearly on edge and less than enthused that he was in close proximity to Akashi. He had postured quite a bit when Tetsuya returned with his new charge, making a point of throwing threatening glances Akashi’s way and tapping his magic rod in rather exaggerated manner. Akashi, for his part, paid him as much mind as he would have a fly.

At the gates, Tetsuya was handed a stack of papers to sign and Akashi was dragged off to be searched. Liability and responsibility, he was to take up both, in order for Akashi to be released. Akashi was not a criminal, and technically he was free to go, as his psychological profile had been stable throughout the last months. But he was also the most dangerous ability user in at least Japan. If things had gone differently he would have taken his place as one of the country’s leading heads.

But things had gone the way they had. And Akashi had spent the last few years of his life in a better prison. He himself did not seem to be bothered much by that fact, so Tetsuya decided to let it go as well. Still, he couldn’t help but feel bad about the circumstances. He recognized that he needed a bodyguard - or at least a partner who could hold his own - and Akashi was undoubtedly a good choice, if ability was the measuring bar, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept that he essentially made Akashi his slave.

Tetsuya’s knuckles were white when he signed his name in exchange for Akashi’s custody.


	4. Tetsuya II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems the one day per month that I go out with friends to eat always falls on the 15th so I miss update day.

Tetsuya cooked dinner. Akashi sat in his living room, reading through the files Aida had prepared. It should be Tetsuya that gave him a rundown on the situation, but Akashi had deigned him with a condescending glance and picked up Aida’s data nodule and had extracted the files himself. Tetsuya had had it opened, but the nonchalance with which Akashi had helped himself to potentially classified information, was rather unnerving. It didn’t help that none of Aida’s defense mechanisms had hindered him.

Tetsuya had resolved to make dinner. It was because he was hungry and not because he wanted to escape the awkward tension he felt whenever he was in a room with Akashi. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to give the nodule out of his hands, let alone to someone like Akashi, but he didn’t get the feeling that Akashi was interested in abusing the information inside. It was mostly worthless to him anyway.

He valiantly ignored the niggling voice at the back of his head that ceaselessly reminded him that Akashi shouldn’t even concern himself with the case but solely with Tetsuya’s protection.

“This is quite the unpleasant case.” Tetsuya startled at the sudden sound. He almost chopped off his finger. Akashi was leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, the nodule held loosely in his hand. “I can see why you would need my help.” Something in his voice, the way there was absolutely no inflection giving a hint as to what he was thinking, sent a chill down Tetsuya’s spine. A bodyguard shouldn’t sound this indifferent towards his charge.

Tetsuya put down his knife, and turned to face Akashi. “It is.” He said, carefully not to look anywhere near Akashi’s eyes. The look in them was too intense for Tetsuya’s liking. He was used to remain in the shadow of his partner Kagami, used to stay in the background and read people, rather than being read constantly. It didn’t help that under Akashi’s scrutiny he felt like he was being dissected, layer by layer until his core was revealed.

“Although I have to say your chief has some guts to send you out alone.” The way he said the word ‘alone’ made something in Tetsuya’s belly twist. He felt the need to wrap his arms around himself and cower, even while part of his mind recognized how absurd that urge was.

“Aida-san knows when a risk is worth it.” He didn’t say the obvious, that she didn’t have a choice, that they were short on staff, that there were cases out there that were much more imminent, but that this one might yet to be the most dangerous.

“Ah.” Akashi tilted his head. “I should have known Aida is behind this. It takes a special brand of person to send one’s most valuable member on a veritable suicide mission.”

Tetsuya couldn’t hide his surprise. On top of that, he couldn’t immediately decide what to focus on first Akashi watched him with a curious yet somewhat mocking expression.

“I used to do business with Aida Kagetora. I have noted his daughter as a promising prospect and she has yet to fail my expectations. As for my assessment of your worth as an investigator, let’s just say I am familiar with Aida Riko’s thought process. She wouldn’t send anyone out on a possible suicide mission if she weren’t convinced they could handle it, which invariably means they are the best at what they do.” The smile adorning the words was cutting. “It should have at least occurred to you that she must have had a reason to entrust you to me.

“Although, I would advise you to not take everything at face value. I have merely concluded my observation of the situation.” Akashi dropped a pointed look to the nodule he had put on the counter. “It would be unwise to assume this to be my personal opinion.”

“I wouldn’t presume.” Tetsuya said and he finally dragged his eyes to look at Akashi’s eyes. “Dinner will be finished soon. You may set the tables.” He said then and turned back to his preparations.

“As you wish.” Akashi replied and this time there was no amusement hiding the mocking in his voice.

He should know better, he really should. But Akashi’s presence didn’t smoothly blend into the background noise of Tetsuya’s thoughts, like he was used to from his friends and colleagues. There was no companionable, peaceful silence to be had in Akashi’s company. Even with Akashi‘s attention turned to his thoughts, it still felt as if Tetsuya was displayed in a Petri dish.

So, even while he did know better, Tetsuya still couldn’t help but break the silence. “How does Akashi-kun like the food?” He had dropped the -san earlier, following Akashi’s short reprimand on etiquette and the maintenance of hierarchy. Tetsuya had conceded but he hadn’t dropped the honorific altogether, merely replaced it with a less formal one.

Akashi looked at him sharply. He wasn’t quite frowning, but it came very close. Tetsuya refused to back down though. It might be inane small talk, but if nothing else, he was trying to build them both a foundation to work on. He could only hope Akashi would be amenable.

For a moment it seemed Akashi was going to ignore him, but then he exhaled and lowered his spoon. “It is quite good. Although the quality of the tofu is improvable. I have had worse.”

Tetsuya felt a smile tug on his lips, but he repressed it. Akashi likely wouldn’t appreciate it. “I am glad.” He said instead.

Akashi looked up at him, eyes slightly narrowed. “It is of little matter, if I appreciate Kuroko’s cooking.”

“It might not be.” Tetsuya allowed. “But it doesn’t hurt or impair me to ensure Akashi-kun’s wellbeing. What is Akashi-kun’s favorite dish? I’ll be sure to try it next time.”

Akashi’s eyes were somewhat cold when he replied. “I commend your attempt at building a rapport between us. It is a waste of time, however. We are business partners, if Kuroko insists on labeling it. I do not intend to be friends with Kuroko. I advise you not to get misled by your inherent desire to please your peers.”

Tetsuya leveled Akashi with a firm gaze. “I am not going out of my way. Cooking is a necessary practice; I might as well ensure we both enjoy the outcome. Akashi-kun need not worry. Our relationship is strictly business. I do not wish to change that. Now, Akashi-kun. What is your favorite dish?”

The smile tugging at Akashi’s lips was wry. “Tofu soup, incidentally.”

Tetsuya looked down at the bowl of sloppily prepared tofu soup in front of him. He felt heat rising in his cheeks. “Then we should buy better tofu next time.” He said with as much disgruntled dignity he could muster.

Akashi tilted his head. “Very well then.” He picked up his bowl and drank the rest of the soup, somehow making it seem like a very regal affair, even though he was essentially slurping soup. Tetsuya very much felt like stabbing something with his spoon.

“I might be a bit rusty when it comes to the newest development in alchemic methods,” Akashi said after a long pause, but I am fairly certain I can decipher the circle’s purpose, given enough time.”

“It is a summoning circle.” Tetsuya said. It sounded rather asinine to say it out aloud. Demons and the likes did not exist. Although, Tetsuya had to admit if a circle could be used to summon a person from the other side of the planet that would be quiet neat. “Or at least that is what its supposed purpose is. I doubt it is functional, regardless of composition.”

The look Akashi gave him was somewhat pitying. “It is not a matter as simply dismissed as that.” He said with a condescending tone that mad Tetsuya bristle. “But if Kuroko rather focus on the evidence we do have at hand. What do we have indeed, shall we risk a look?

“There is our dear councilor, who has gotten himself abducted, how sloppy of him. Then there are the abductors who also presumably take part in rituals of questionable intent. Satanic maybe, the idea of a devil is always appealing. It might be something entirely different. Interdimensional traveling would be quite attractive a feat, don’t you think? But the really interesting part is the blood. Blood magic is a rather niche practice, as it is heavily stigmatized. It does have some remarkable properties however. Now, what does this all tell us?”

“That Akashi-kun is a terrible snarker.” Tetsuya deadpanned.

Akashi stared at him for a moment, before there was the faintest twitch on his lips. It was not nearly a smile but as close as it would get. “Fair enough.” He said and this time his amusement was very obvious.

“It is a good observation.” Tetsuya conceded. “And if Akashi-kun thinks there is some evidence to be found in the circle’s makeup, he is welcome to analyze it.”

“But Kuroko does not expect any valuable results, does he?”

Tetsuya schooled his expression very carefully. “I am not discrediting Akashi-kun’s skills or even that there may be clues hidden in the runic composition of the circle.” He inclined his head. “I am merely concerned that even if we find out the circle’s exact use, it won’t constitute viable evidence. Summoning - the entire subculture of occultism and everything related - are inherently superstitious. A world outside our own does not exist - artificial dimensions notwithstanding - and therefore higher beings do not exist.”

Akashi leaned back against the back of his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face. “There is substantial lore about demons, as well as devils. Multiple religions and cultures across the globe have developed similar beliefs independently from each other.”

“Religions are merely a lens through which humanist observes the unexplainable. With the discovery of magic, explanations have been found for most myths and phenomenon. A similar trend throughout unrelated religions is not a convincing argument, considering everything has originated from the same human observations.”

Akashi eyes seemed to glitter. If it was excitement or something else, Tetsuya could not tell. “That is true. But there lies your answer as well. A cult forming in this day and age has the liberty of choosing from a plethora of beliefs and ideas. Subsequently, we as the outside observes can infer a lot from their choice - goals, beliefs, convictions. The information is all there.”

“And this choice - or rather, the entity they try to summon - can be deduced from the circle alone?” Tetsuya asked, hopeful but he couldn’t quite quell the doubt.

“Nearly. It depends. A circle always functions as a whole. In its most simplest form, a circle is the sum of its parts. Combine the rune for water and earth and you get clay. Or something similar. But the higher order of alchemy you attempt, the more space you would have to offer with this kind of combining. To make a golem you would have to add the runes for water and earth for the clay and the run for life to make it move. This would only afford you the most basic of golems. Now, what if you wanted a golem made from steel that can fly and shoot fire bolts from its eyes? The sheer amount of runes you would have to combine to get this result would not fit in the constraints of your circle. This has been a problem since early on, so over time alchemists have devised a new language if you will. One that doesn’t combine runes on their inherent meanings but on other qualities. Phonetics being one example. It allows for highly complex circles, but from the runic scripture alone it is sometimes hard to deduce the function without prior information. ”

“But it is possible?” Tetsuya asked.

“Most certainly. Runic language is after all a language - one with admittedly arbitrary rules, but a language all the same.”

“That is quite impressive. I would be most grateful if Akashi-kun could take a look at the circle’s runic composition then.” Akashi merely nodded his acquiescence. Tetsuya stood to collect the dishes from their meal. “If Akashi-kun needs anything, please let me know. I will see to it that he gets it.”

He felt Akashi’s eyes on him as he walked into the kitchen. For a moment he had thought Akashi was surprised at the offer, but the moment had passed so quickly without a trace. He couldn’t quite make sense of Akashi.

Tetsuya offered Akashi his bed but was shot down thoroughly. So he took out the spare futon and laid it out in the living room for Akashi to sleep on. The safety instructions he had gotten alongside the release papers had stated clearly that he should monitor Akashi at all times of day, but that was neither realistic nor feasible. If Akashi really wanted to do him harm, Tetsuya doubted that even the collar would stop him.

Later, while lying restlessly in his bed, Tetsuya’s thoughts were irresistibly drawn to his bodyguard. He wondered how many layers Akashi had wrapped around his true self. He seemed to have a million different facets to his personality and none reflect what truly lay inside. What would it take, Tetsuya wondered to get a glimpse at what lay underneath?

He had read the file Aida had provided him with multiple times. It held all the data and reports that pertained to Akashi’s case, from his familial background to his school career. But what the files lacked was comprehensive data on the incident that led to Akashi’s admission to Tateyama -the infamous breakdown. There was some info - allegedly Akashi had suffered a nervous breakdown from stress in his final year of high school and Tetsuya could infer that whatever happened in response had something to do with Akashi’s ability. But the exact circumstances were not disclosed.

He suspected Akashi’ father - a very influential and rich businessman - had something to do with that. But the fact that not even Izuki who was an expert in data retrieval, could not find any more info was quite worrying.

Whatever happened, it had caused his father to admit him to Tateyama. While Tateyama boasted a successful psychological support program for its inhabitants, it wouldn’t exactly be first choice for one’s offspring - especially when one could afford the best psychiatrists in the country with ease. Of course, if Akashi had committed a crime during his episode, things would be quite different.

Tetsuya rolled on his other side, trying to find a position that was comfortable. He should check for any crimes that happened during the time period in question and see if anything would fit. But he somehow doubted that he’d find something. Someone wanted to cover this up and they most certainly weren’t messing around.

But why go to these great lengths and then abandon your son in a facility which is notorious for a lot of things, incidentally the betterment of their patients not being one of them. Tetsuya was too tired to try and make sense of it. But his thoughts were too restless to let him sleep.

He wondered if it even was important.

Akashi’s past was of no concern to him. He had a case to focus on. And he couldn’t afford to let Akashi’s issues or non-issues distract him from that.

Still, sleep eluded him.

After a rather fruitless morning and part of an afternoon, with Akashi filling countless sheets with notes and drawings to figure out the circle’s purpose, Tetsuya decided it was time to pay Midorima Shintarou a visit.

Akashi was less than enthused to be pulled from his studies, but Tetsuya assured him that it would be well worth it. It was an uncommon way of gathering information, but one that had served Tetsuya very well in the past. It wasn’t exactly court-approved, but that was something he could deal with later.

“I think I have heard the name before.” Akashi mused during the car ride. “If I recall correctly, Midorima is the name of a rather famous hospital in Tokyo.”

“Yes, Midorima-kun’s father is the owner of that hospital. Midorima-kun was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps.” Tetsuya carefully kept his eyes on the street. This morning, while Akashi had been busy studying, Tetsuya had gone out to shop for clothes. Akashi had not brought any clothes with him and Tetsuya had figured he’d rather offer him his own clothes than stocking him from his own wardrobe. Despite possessing his own clothes now, Akashi had yet to change out of the clothes Tetsuya had lent him for the day. Tetsuya found he had a hard time looking at Akashi in his shirt. It wasn’t that he loathed Akashi the clothes, it was more that _something_ fluttered in his gut every time he looked. He preferred not to examine that feeling.

Akashi made a low noise. “Ah, I think I remember reading about it in the newspaper. Famous hospital CEO’s son ditches prolific career to open a Ramen shop.” He cites. It did cause quite the uproar.

“He is a seer.” Tetsuya said as though that explained anything.

“Ah.” Akashi said, amusement clear in his voice. “I can see how that would cause conflicts.”

“He is quite talented.” Tetsuya continued. “At times being hailed the most talented seer in Japan. I think he has even been called a prophet on occasion.” Tetsuya could feel Akashi’s eyes on him, meticulously dissecting every word he said for its deeper meaning.

“It is not a well received gift, is it though?” Akashi asked softly.

Tetsuya gripped the steering wheel tighter. “No,” he said just as softly.

“And that is why we are paying him a visit? To impose on an unwelcome gift?” There was no trace of mock in Akashi’s words, yet Tetsuya felt a trickle of annoyance.

“To be honest, it is not Midorima-kun I wish to meet. But his friend, Takao-kun. I am not aware of the details, but Midorima-kun no longer practices. He is content with cooking ramen.” Tetsuya said with cool politeness.

Akashi didn’t reply and Tetsuya pulled his focus back to the road. But he couldn’t help but look at Akashi from the corner of his eye. He was looking out the window, the fiery colors of the sinking sun played in odd shades on Akashi’s face, leaving it even more unreadable than usual. Tetsuya stared ahead and tried to forget the imbalance he’d felt ever since he took custody of Akashi. It was as though part of his body felt heavier, like it was dragged down by Akashi’s presence, an irresistible pull that had been redirected to the ground.

He flipped on the radio, unable to endure the oppressing silence. It only seemed to grow heavier in response.

“Kuroko, now is an inopportune moment to disturb Takao.” Midorima said in passing, walking by just as Tetsuya entered his shop. He didn’t even pause in delivering the bowls of ramen stacked in his arms. It was an odd sight, even after all this time. When he had met Midorima, he had been in college, studying to become a medical alchemist like his father. He had been eccentric already but more than that, he had been the stiffest and most proper person Tetsuya had ever met. If someone had told him that he would once operate a ramen shop, Tetsuya would not have believed them.

Midorima was tall, to the point of towering. He had dark green hair and carried himself with a stiff and straight posture. He wore glasses, smudged with greasy finger prints, but Midorima took little note of that. His eyes were a similar shade of green than his hair.

He came back from the table, expertly weaving through the hustle and bustle of his ramen shop. His apron sat askew and there were discolored stains of soup and grease and possibly soy sauce dotted everywhere. His fingers were covered in band-aids and Tetsuya didn’t have to ask to know he burned himself at the stove again.

“Takao is in the back.” He said tersely as he marched past them, not even chancing a glance in Akashi’s direction. He would have known that Tetsuya wasn’t going to turn away empty-handed. On the way, he picked up empty bowls and orders as if following a deeply ingrained and perfected routine.

“Let’s go see Takao-kun.” Tetsuya said with a small sigh and motioned Akashi to follow him.

They both stuck out like sore thumbs in the busy shop. Usually, no one paid much attention to Tetsuya when he came for a visit - which admittedly, was rather rare. But Akashi drew quite a few looks, even in casual dress. He had an aura of absolute command clinging to him that made everyone move out of their way. Tetsuya felt like swimming in the wake of a great White that made its way through a swarm of fish.

Takao sat perched on a stool in the kitchen, holding a cup of steaming liquid in his hands and staring at nothing through bleary looking grey eyes. His usually well kempt black hair hung in messy strands, tangled and without shine.

Midorima bustled around him, pouring ingredients into pots and stirring what seemed to be in random intervals and order. It all seemed very chaotic, but there was not a single misplaced step in Midorima’s movements.

“Takao, you have visitors.” He announced. His glasses were slightly fogged from the surrounding steam and he added yet another finger print as he fixed them up his nose. Not for the first time, Tetsuya felt the urge to take his glasses and wipe them clean.

“I know.” Takao said without looking up from his cup. Where Midorima was the image of bustling activity, Takao seemed drab and lifeless, staring with listless eyes at his cup. Steam kept swirling in endless spirals, despite the time that must have passed.

Midorima didn’t pause in his flurry. But he passed a hand through Takao’s hair, as casual as though it was an integrated part of his routine. For all Tetsuya knew, it was.

Takao sighed and put down his cup. He finally looked up at them. The force of his gaze was like a punch and Tetsuya had to avert his eyes immediately. Akashi made a low sound in his throat, but unlike Tetsuya he kept looking. Behind Takao, Midorima filled the contents of one pot into bowls, stacked eggs and meat and other ingredients on top and bustled out the door in a matter of seconds.

“Shin-chan, remember to take a break.” Takao called after him, but he sounded rather dull as he did so. As though he had barely been able to muster the energy to talk at all. He put away his cup that had finally stopped steaming and patted the stool next to him. “Sit down; you make me all woozy, standing like that.”

Takao kept looking at him while speaking so Tetsuya slowly sat down on the indicated seat.

“Send your bird outside, he distorts my vision.” Takao flapped a hand in Akashi’s direction. “But don’t bother Shin-chan. He dropped a bowl when he saw your arrival, so I guess it must be bad. Just get out of my eyes.”

“I’m afraid I can’t leave Kuroko.” Akashi said. A thin smile was stretched over his lips and his eyes seemed to glimmer in the dim light of the steamy kitchen.

“If something were to happen, Shin-chan would have seen it.” Takao said. “Besides, we are warded.” He made a gesture to point to the straw-dolls hanging from the ceilings in the corners. Each had a small alchemistic circle drawn on its belly.

“Akashi-kun.” Tetsuya said. “Nothing will happen to me in here.”

Akashi’s eyes seemed cool, even through the steam of boiling hot soup. “As you wish.” He said, but there was no inflection that could give away his feelings on the matter. He turned and walked out, back into the serving room. Tetsuya stared after his retreating back. Sometimes, he wasn’t sure if Akashi was actually mocking him or if this was just how he was.

“That was weird.” Takao said, staring at the door, squinting. “What’s up with him? Okay, never mind. I don’t really want to know. That’s one level too crazy, even for me.” He reached for his cup but sighed when he realized the contents had gone cold. He stared at it for a moment and then, very slowly as though time had temporarily slowed, a vessel burst in his eye and a tendril of blood stretched towards his iris. Takao cursed.

“Is it a bad time.” Tetsuya’s intonation left it as a statement.

“It’s always a bad time. Shin-chan sees too much and it’s all I can do to keep up.” Takao’s lips curled into a nasty smile. “And what does he tell me? ‘There is no need to keep up, Takao. I see enough for both of us.’ Of course he does.” Takao shifted on his stool to lean back against the counter behind him. “You see that pot over there; it’s about to boil over, which would make a giant mess and possibly ruin the stock and chashu. Of course, Shin-chan has seen that hours ago and planned accordingly. There is no more surprise in our lives, and that’s a good thing. Same with you guys. Well, almost. He doesn’t keep close tabs on his friends these days. He says it’s because it’s too bothersome, but I’d say it is because I couldn’t keep up if he did. And there he goes.” Just on cue, Midorima entered with another pile of empty bowls in his arms.

Both Takao and Tetsuya watched in silence as Midorima lifted the lid of the pot that was about to bowl over. He adjusted the heat and stirred some, before filling a few more bowls and rushing out with the orders.

“It never really stops, you know.” Takao said, almost conversationally. “Even if he wanted to, Shin-chan can’t stop _seeing_. It’s quite amusing, if you think about it. Imagine Shin-chan’s panic if something happened he didn’t predict.” Takao smiled wryly. ”At this point, I guess it would cause quite the paradox. He hasn’t been wrong for a very long time. I’ve tried to find blind spots so I could surprise him. Needless to say it didn’t work.”

“Takao-kun is unusually talkative.” Tetsuya commented idly into the pause of Takao’s monologue.

Takao snorted a laugh. “Can I call in Shin-chan and tell him you said that? According to him I never shut up enough.” Takao’s mirth died as fast as it had come. “He obviously already knows.” He said with resignation in his voice. “I don’t see the future as Shin-chan does. He hates it. But truly, I envy him. Shin-chan never questions what he sees. He doesn’t have to. The future is set in stone for him. Me on the other hand…” Takao’s grin was all sharp and jagged edges. “There are days when I see the cracks in reality.” He said with an aimless tone to his voice. “I guess that has its merit too. Although I guess my eyes were not made for this much insight. But trying to keep up with Shin-chan; I had to adjust a lot.” He made a hand gesture towards the door where Midorima had disappeared. “It sounds stupid when I say it out loud, but hearing a voice, even if it’s only my own; it helps to take off the edge.”

“Stop talking nonsense, Takao.” Midorima said. He came in carrying another load of empty bowls and dumped them in the sink.

“See.” Takao said and pointed a thumb at Midorima. “No doubt, he knew I would be saying this, hours before I actually did, but he waited all this time just to drop a line on my head.”

Midorima ignored them and picked up his cooking.

Takao checked to see if the door to the main room was closed. “So what did you come here for, Tet-chan?” Takao’s eyes were blood-shot, one filled with the blood from a freshly popped vessel and the usually so sharp expression was strangely subdued. For once, looking in Takao’s eyes didn’t raise all defense instincts Tetsuya had.

“I suppose you have heard about councilor Kinogawa’s abduction?”

Takao snorted. “I try to stay away from the news, but it kind of carries over.” He pointed to the door. “It’s been the talk of the day. So what? You trying to find him?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why you got the menacing little bird perching on your shoulder? He some kind of special investigator?”

“Akashi-kun is my bodyguard.”

Takao started laughing, almost toppling from his chair. “Tet-chan has a bodyguard? Did I ever tell you, how much I love that you’re my blind spot? You never cease to amaze me.”

“Thank you.” Tetsuya said tersely.

“Aw, come on Tet-chan. Let a guy have his simple pleasures in life.”

“I thought Takao-kun liked a life without surprises.”

“I said it’s good like that, not that I like it.”

“Takao, stop talking nonsense.” Midorima cut in.

“Yes, yes.” Takao said with an attempted smile and a wave.

Tetsuya pinched his lips slightly. “We have reason to believe Kinogawa-san has been abducted by a cult.”

“A cult? Are you serious?” Takao was on the brink of laughter again, but tried to hold it back this time.

“Yes. Incidentally, one that has attempted a summoning using human blood.”

Instantly, Takao sobered. “Summoning is not possible.” Tetsuya merely tilted his head. “Right, as if that ever stopped anyone. But man, that’s fucked up. Although…” Takao’s eyes were drawn to an invisible point behind Tetsuya as he trailed off. “I can’t really blame them for trying. I know it’s all been proven to be a big scam and all, but,” he shrugged, “sometimes I think they might have been wrong.” He sighed. “I can’t really see through them, but if there are cracks in reality, there might be something behind it. I don’t know. Maybe it’s nothing - like literal nothing. But I get the feeling it’s more than that. What even is reality?”

“That you should probably ask Akashi-kun.” Tetsuya said.

Takao snorted. “I’d rather not. He’s…” He shook his head. “I don’t know how to describe it, but just looking at him _hurts_. Like he’s this really, really bright light. But it’s not really light. More like, power in its purest form or something. If that makes sense.”

“It does.” Tetsuya said slowly. “He’s powerful. Sometimes I feel small, just by being in the same room with him.”

It’s not just time that has cracks. Shin-chan says it’s in my head and I should stop overdoing it, but I know my ability. Strain looks different.”

“But his power does not work on Tet-chan does it?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Lucky you.” Takao said mournfully. “I feel like he could crush me with one look. He’s one scary fellow. I think-“ He hesitated. Then shook his head. “It’s probably nothing. My eyes aren’t good today, so I can’t really trust what I see.”

Tetsuya would have liked to ask but something in Takao’s expression compelled him not to.

“Well, I would love to help you out Tet-chan, but as you can see, my eyes can’t even heat coffee right now.” He picked up his cup again, staring at it balefully. “I should have drunken you when you were still hot.” He told it.

Tetsuya did his best to keep a straight face. He could see Midorima scowl while pretending he was busy with doing the dishes. In truth, he had run on autopilot for quite a while now, listening intently to their conversation instead.

“Anyway. My vision’s screwed for today, my coffee is cold and your friend makes reality bleed through the wall. Wait, makes that two walls.”

“Takao, he has no idea what you are talking about.” Midorima said without looking up from his work.

“No.” Takao tilted his head and blinked. “No, he doesn’t. Let’s just say I won’t go near your friend again, even if you threatened me with a blunt bamboo shoot.”

“What about a sharpened bamboo shoot?” Tetsuya asked innocently.

Takao grimaced. “You haven’t seen what I have seen. Ah well, no one has seen what I have seen. Not even Shin-chan. I recommend you stay away from any and all bamboo shoots from now on.”

Tetsuya looked at Midorima with mild concern. “Do I have to be worried?” From the corner of his eyes he caught Takao’s attempt at a mock-offended face.

“No, Takao is just spouting nonsense.” Midorima replied. He reached for a pot without looking. Takao opened his mouth, but it was too late. Midorima touched the hot edge and jerked back his fingers.

“And yet, this still happens. He doesn’t even try to prevent the accidents.” Takao sighed and got up to get a band-aid. Midorima didn’t seem much concerned by his burn. He dipped his fingers into a small bowl standing on the counter. Tetsuya could see bits of melted ice floating in the water. Takao dried him up with a towel and wrapped a band-aid around Midorima’s finger. He sat back down on his stool while Midorima went back to work. The whole process took less than a minute and didn’t so much as distract Midorima’s workflow.

“Regardless, bamboo shoots are evil. Stay away from them if possible.”

“Did you know-“ Tetsuya started but was immediately cut off.

“Yes. Yes, I did know. I have no idea what you were going to say, but with a 100% certainty I did already know whatever fact you were going to dispend.”

“Bamboos from the same cohort all flower at the same time, regardless of geographic location or climate conditions. Time periods between flowerings can last up to 120 years. Afterwards, the entire bamboo cohort dies.” Midorima iterated from his position at the stove.

“Go take some orders.” Takao said with a groan of annoyance. “As I was saying, I’m sorry that I can’t help you. But Tet-chan’s sidekick has seriously fucked up my vision, so I’d rather not chance anything.”

“Akashi-kun is not my sidekick.“ Tetsuya muttered dryly.

“I am not what?” Just then, Akashi appeared in the doorway.

“Welcome. Here.” Takao said flatly and picked up his cup. This time two vessels burst, but the content started steaming again. “Would you please leave? I already overstrained just to see normally today. And you are not making it easier with all the cracks you drag along in your shadow.” Takao put the cup to his mouth and emptied it in one go, ignoring the piping hotness of the liquid.

Akashi seemed surprised for a moment but then his expression smoothed over again. “Very well.” He said and inclined his head. “I did not intend to disturb your peace. I’ll wait outside.”

Silence hung heavy in the air in the wake of Akashi’s departure. It took a moment for Tetsuya to notice that Midorima had stopped his activity. He stared at the array of pots in front of him, blinking with wide eyes as though he just woke from a dream.

Takao sighed with an almost pained expression. He stood to pick up a towel, wet it at the sink and wrapped it around his eyes, before he started speaking in a mechanic voice. “We’re almost out of soy sauce tare and the miso tare needs miso. The torigara stock is almost empty. Also the noodles are almost done.”

Midorima blinked again and then shook off whatever had hit him.

“Blackout.” Takao said after Midorima picked up his bustle again. “It sometimes happens. Shin-chan’s connection or whatever just cuts off and he can’t see anything at all. That’s what I’m here for. I fill in the blanks until the connection picks up again. It gets rather ugly if he stays out for too long.” Takao grimaced. “You should better go now too. We’re going to have to close early today so Shin-chan can recover.”

“It was Akashi-kun’s presence, wasn’t it?” Tetsuya asked solemnly. “He didn’t just disturb Takao-kun’s ability.”

“It is of no matter.” Midorima said harshly. He checked himself a moment later, but didn’t apologize.

“I won’t pry.” Tetsuya stood up. “I apologize for the disturbance.” He had hoped to gain more from this visit, but he could see plainly that Takao was already overstraining his eyes just to keep up with Midorima.

“It’s okay. I know Tet-chan has his plate full as well.” Takao waved and flopped down on his stool. “It’s not much, but there’s an, ah, how should I put it? He’s a bit like me, only less…” He chanced a glance at Midorima, “burdened, if you will.” He ducked his shoulders almost as if expecting a hit.

Midorima sighed very audibly.

“I love you Shin-chan.” Takao said with a helpless grin, despite the tired lines on his face.

Midorima blushed, even though he must have known this was going to happen. He muttered something incomprehensible.

“So this dude. Let me give you the address of his hangout. He doesn’t really have a home. He’s also a bit of a dick, but if anyone’s going to know something, it’s him.” Takao pulled out a piece of paper and began scribbling something on it. “His name is Azuki. You’ll recognize him once you see him, he’s got this snake head tattooed on his skull. He’s kinda into Indian mythology or something. Dunno, I never bothered to find out details.” He folded up the note and handed it to Tetsuya.

“Thank you,” Tetsuya said earnestly.

Takao’s smile was tired but warm. “Sorry that I can’t do more. Azuki is, well I wouldn’t go as far as call him a good guy, but he’s not a bad guy either. And he’s one of the best at what he does. He can be a bit of a dick though.”

“Takao-kun has already said that.” Tetsuya said.

“I did? Well, it can’t be said enough. One of the reasons why he hangs out at that place. He’s too rough-edged for fine business establishments.” Takao sighed and shook his head. “It’s a shame really. Guy like him could make a fortune with the right manners.”

Tetsuya put away the note and stood. “Thank you, Takao-kun.” He said again.

“Anytime Tet-chan. You know that. Even Shin-chan here.”

Midorima grumbled something and picked up another bunch of orders. He swiftly left the kitchen, ears faintly pink. Takao turned to stare after him, even though he couldn’t see much through the towel. The expression on his face was fond.

“Tell Azuki I sent you. He’ll probably make a fuss, but he owes me one.”

“Thank you.” Tetsuya said for the third time. Takao just waved him off.

Akashi was waiting outside as he had said, leaning against the car, arms crossed. He was studying the sign above the shop. ‘Fortune Ramen’ was spelled out in smooth kanji lettering. He didn’t say anything, but for once, his expression was eloquent enough.

Tetsuya didn’t quite feel up to a conversation right now. He hadn’t exactly learned anything useful, but seeing the toll it took on Takao to use his ability always had quite a sobering effect.

It was days like this that he was glad that he had been born without an ability. Most all of them came with a price. He wondered what Akashi’s price was. Maybe it was his sanity, Tetsuya thought. Or maybe there was no price at all.

Tetsuya shook of the gloomy thoughts and unlocked his car.

“You are not going to apologize for your friend’s behavior?” Akashi inquired once they were seated. He didn’t sound angry, merely curious.

Tetsuya was tired, so very, very tired. He couldn’t quite bother right now with dissecting the many underlying messages Akashi was constantly sending with his words. The way every word meant so much more than it seemed at first glance. “No,” he said rather flatly. “Takao-kun has a very good reason for being the way he is.” _So does Midorima_ , but he didn’t add that. Tetsuya started the engine.

Akashi acknowledged his words with a tilt of his head. He turned to stare out the window. If he noticed that they were not driving back the direction they came, he didn’t say it.

“How did a seer of Midorima Shintarou’s caliber come to open a ramen shop?” Akashi asked after a while. He sounded casual, almost disinterested, but Tetsuya got the distinct impression that it was an attempt at small talk.

Another time, he might have appreciated the sentiment, or even thought about the meaning behind such an attempt. But right now his mind was too occupied with other things, too caught up in the net he had no clue how to unravel. “According to Takao-kun, one day he just saw himself opening one and so he did.”

“What a convenient ability,” Akashi said. Again, with that tone of amusement to his voice.

He was tempted to ask why this all seemed so amusing to Akashi. But he had a feeling he wouldn’t like the answer, no matter what. Instead, all he said was, “it is.”

This time it was Akashi who turned on the radio.


	5. Tetsuya III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Behold the chapter that has seen the most rewrites and has nothing in common anymore with its very first draft.

It was dark by the time they reached the address Takao had specified. It was a bar on the Eastern bank of the river Arakawa, built precariously close to the water front. The surrounding buildings were all dark and seemed to be uninhabited, giving the whole area a rather abandoned and lonely feeling.

Street lamps cast everything in a dull yellow light, adding an eerie touch to it all.

On the way, he had explained to Akashi why they were here. He had withheld any comment, but Tetsuya could not help the feeling that he was silently mocking him. He shut the car door with a bit more force than necessary.

The bar was dimly lit and from inside the faint bustling sound of a nightly crowd could be heard. Tetsuya checked to see if Akashi was behind him, before entering. Inside, the bar was surprisingly bright and cheerful, unlike what the exterior had promised.

A faint hush fell over the occupants as they entered. Eyes followed them, but they were not unfriendly - merely curious. Just as Takao had said, the man named Azuki stood out quite well with his shaved and tattooed head. He sat alone at a table in the corner, a large glass in front of him with what appeared to be beer in it. It was almost empty.

He looked up when they approached. His eyes - with vertical pupils, Tetsuya noted - slid over Tetsuya and then came to rest on Akashi. He narrowed his eyes, before a small split tongue darted out to wet his lips.

“Azuki-san?” Tetsuya asked politely. The large golden scaled snake tattooed on the man’s head, a cobra poised for a bite - its teeth framing Azuki’s face and dripping poison down his chin where they were met with the snake’s lower jaw - seemed to stare at him with eerie focus. The snake’s eyes were a deep, saturated red, almost glowing against the backdrop of Azuki's skin.

“Yeah?” He said, attention drawing back to Tetsuya almost sluggishly, as though he wanted to keep looking at Akashi.

“My name is Kuroko Tetsuya. This is Akashi Seijuurou. Our friend Takao Kazunari has recommended Azuki-san’s services to us.”

Azuki’s eyebrow twitched upwards in what could be a frown. “Has he now? Well, sit down then. Friends of Takao’s are friends of mine.” His smile was sharp and almost wolfish.

“Thank you.” Tetsuya said and sat down. Akashi sat down as well, after what seemed a moment of deliberation.

“Beer?” Azuki asked, raising his own glass.

Tetsuya declined politely; Akashi just shook his head.

Azuki shrugged and ordered himself another beer. “Now, what can I do for you? I expect Takao did not just send you on a courtesy visit.”

“He did in fact not.” Tetsuya said. “We are here, because we need an information.”

“Aren’t they all?” Azuki said. The waitress with his beer arrived, collecting the empty glass as she went. Azuki emptied half of his new beer in one go. “Information is what I do.” He said, after putting down the glass. There were traces of foam on his upper lip but Azuki made no move to wipe it off. “Here’s how it works. I know things. Don’t ask me how, I just know. It’s what I do. I do not make a habit to lie. It is bad for business. Therefore, everything I tell you is true.” He smirked at his beer, almost as if on a private joke.

He took another swig from his beer. “Then, there is the price. Information is valuable. It does not come cheap. Prices may range, depending on the nature of the information. I will also reserve the right to opt out of a deal if the information you ask for is too hot. That clear?”

“About the price…” Tetsuya said slowly. Just how was he supposed to address this? “Takao-kun mentioned Azuki-san owes him a favor?”

Azuki looked at him for a moment, before his eyebrows twitched again. His lips curled into a smirk. “Ah that. You could argue that I do owe him a favor. Be that as it may, Takao is not here. You will have to apologize, but I can’t just take your word for it.”

Tetsuya inclined his head. “I was under the impression Azuki-san _knows things_. Should he not be able to know if Takao-kun has sent us or not?”

Azuki’s lips pulled into a grin. “I like you already. But it’s not that simple. I owe a favor to Takao, although the incident in question hardly justifies even that. And I wish to repay that favor to Takao personally.”

Tetsuya suppressed a sigh. “What price does Azuki-san want then? I’m afraid I can’t properly compensate him monetarily as I am not exactly what one would consider rich.”

Azuki’s grin was wry. “I am not after money. Usually, I would ask for artifacts or trinkets. Or alchemic devices. There’s plenty to go around. But something tells me you are hard pressed for time.” He absently swirled his glass, making the liquid slosh in a circular motion. “I don’t presume you have an Paracelsus coil at hand?”

“I’m afraid not.” Tetsuya said.

“A shame. They’re so rare. But have a much better throughput than an Agrippa coil, which for whatever reason is the common thing used.” He shook his head. “Agrippa’s work is so occult-infested. I don’t understand how people still quote him as the absolute authority on alchemy.”

“Azuki-san.” Tetsuya said, somewhat urgently.

“Ah right. Forgive this little excurse. It is a sore topic for me. As I’ve said, that’s how this works normally. But I am willing to make an exception.” His smirk was somewhat gleeful. “Just tell me something I don’t know. It can be anything. Of course, lies do not count.”

“That is an interesting form of payment.” Tetsuya commented.

“Not really,” Azuki said and waved for the waitress. “I like surprises and learning new things. And for someone who already knows a lot, both are rare to come by. Just see it as a mutual trade, if you want. You get me something I want, in return I’ll get you something you want.”

“And what if the information we ask for is too hot? But we have already paid the price?”

“I always keep my word. Rest assured, you will get the information you want. Granted, you pay my price.”

“Very well.” Tetsuya said with a slight incline of his head.

The waitress came to take their order. This time Tetsuya asked for water and Akashi ordered a lemon cider. Azuki went with his usual beer. They waited until the waitress had disappeared before picking up the conversation.

“It can be anything?” Tetsuya inquired.

“Anything goes. But it should be a worthwhile truth. I am not interested in what you ate for lunch last Thursday.”

“And Azuki-san will not lie?”

“That would defeat the purpose. Lying is a trap that only leads to distrust. Rest assured, I am not out to trick you.”

Tetsuya nodded. He thought for a moment. The waitress came back with their orders and Tetsuya took a moment to wet his throat. “Azuki-san knows what I ate for lunch last Thursday?”

Azuki had already emptied half of his beer. “I don’t. But that is the point. I could find out, if you gave me some more details. But facts like that are of no further consequence. At large, it does matter little what you or anyone ate for lunch at any given day. I am not interested in these kinds of truths. If there was some larger meaning to you Thursday midday meal, however, things would be different.”

“Then it would count?”

“Yes. But only if the larger meaning was unknown to me as well.”

“I see. This does not seem that hard to me.”

Azuki wiped the foam from his mouth. “It isn’t. The key is simply to find something of interest that I don’t know. It can be a personal fact as well. Although most people can’t offer something that can be considered interesting.” He smiled. “I am also not interested in some fancy story you’d tell at a party. It has to be a truth and not just an experience.”

Tetsuya took another sip from his glass. He was aware of Akashi watching him. He tapped a finger against the glass. It made a high pitched sound, a bit like the chime of a bell. He stared at the clear surface of the water. From the corner of his eyes, the snake tattooed on Azuki’s head seemed almost alive.

“I can fly.” He said eventually.

Azuki couldn’t quite hide his surprise. “That’s impossible.” He said.

Tetsuya leveled him with a look. “Is it?” He asked. He could be wrong. But if Azuki was anything like Takao, he would not be able to know anything about Tetsuya at all.

Azuki squinted his eyes. He looked at Tetsuya long and hard. Eventually, he let out a huff of breath. He looked like he couldn’t quite believe it. “I can’t tell.” He said, awe coloring his voice. “Rationally, I know it’s impossible. But.” He shook his head. “Is that how it feels for you? You just don’t know.”

“To be fair, it is not exactly impossible.” Akashi said. He was leaning back in his chair, cider glass in hand and seemed to be yet again amused at something. “Magic would allow one to fly. Ability-wise there are at least two registered users in Japan who possess the ability to at least levitate. There might be more.”

“That _is_ true. But it isn’t true in your case, is it?” He asked Tetsuya.

Tetsuya only tilted his head and smiled.

“Proof it.” Azuki said and crossed his arms. “It can’t count as a truth if it is a lie.”

“But Azuki-san already learned a new truth.” Tetsuya said mildly. “There are things he doesn’t know. Things he can’t know.”

Azuki’s eyes widened before he broke out in a burst of laughter. “You got me there. I never thought this was possible.” He wiped at his eyes where laughter had drawn tears. “Alright, you got me. How do you do it?”

Tetsuya looked down at the table’s worn surface. “I don’t do anything. It just is.”

Azuki hummed. “This is indeed a worthy truth. I would love to learn more. Maybe some other time.” He took a swig from his glass. “Shoot then. What do you want to know?”

Tetsuya opened his mouth and hesitated. “Is this a one question only deal?”

Azuki smirked. “If it were, you’d already used up your question.” Tetsuya frowned. “I’m not that petty. I allow you information regarding one topic. If you need to ask follow-up questions you are welcome to them. I strive to offer the most possible clarity.”

“I am in search of councilor Kinogawa, who has been abducted recently. I wish to know where he is.”

Azuki hummed and closed his eyes. The snake eyes on his forehead seemed to glow a faint red light. Slight ripples of motion seemed to run along the length of the scales. A moment later, Azuki opened his eyes. “Ah,” he said. “Now _that_ ’s bad news.” He drank the rest of his beer and waved for the waitress. “Didn’t know you were wrapped up in that.”

He looked unhappy. “The man you know as councilor Kinogawa does not exist. He has, in fact, never existed. If I were to be literal, I would say I can’t tell you where he is.” Azuki rubbed a hand over his shaved skull. When he lifted it again, the glow in the red eyes had turned dull.

Tetsuya frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Azuki grimaced. “Normally, this would be the point where I would tell you to go to hell. This is not something I’d want to mess with. But I made a promise.” He looked entirely serious now. The waitress came and he asked her for the check.

“Secondly, this is a conversation we should have far away from other ears. For their safety, if not ours.”

The waitress came and they paid. Tetsuya wanted to ask what was going on, but he got the feeling that Azuki wouldn’t be forthcoming at the moment. Azuki led them out of the bar afterwards and down the road. They followed the river until they reached a small area with benches that overlooked the river. A bridge spanned over the river nearby and there was a wide patch of grass separating them from the next buildings. It was dark, the sky overhung with clouds and only a faint silhouette of the moon managed to poke through. It was hard to make out any details like this.

“What is going on?” Tetsuya demanded, once they were seated on the bench.

“Listen,” Azuki said urgently. He kept looking around every few seconds, as if he expected company. “The man you know as councilor Kinogawa is just a front. His real name is Shao Qing and he is a very dangerous man. The abduction, the whole case was fabricated as a distraction.”

“What- Why?” Tetsuya shook his head. “Why would he do that? And what about the finger?”

There was a moment of silence as Azuki seemingly collected his thoughts. “A finger is nothing to these people. They would give a hand or a leg without hesitation.”

“But what are they after? Why faking an abduction in the first place?”

“If it is a distraction,” Akashi cut in, “what is it for?”

“It’s a cult. And they are crazy serious. They want to summon _Arājakatā_ , which is Hindu for Chaos. Yes, they pretty much want to summon Chaos into the world. Now, that’s impossible I’d say. But the thing is. They came to me before. They wanted to know some stuff, but I could see they were bad news so I told them I couldn’t help them.” He shuddered. “I thought they were going to kill me. But the point is, I think they might be on to something. I don’t know for sure, but normally I _know_ if something is impossible. But with them, it was like looking at really blurry image. You can’t make out details but something is there.”

Tetsuya frowned. “That’s not possible. There is no such thing as an embodiment of Chaos. And chaos itself.” He shrugged helplessly. “What would that even look like?”

“But that is the point.” Akashi said softly. “There is no tangible form for things like time and chaos. Or even order. But they do exist. In abstract yet observable form. That in itself creates a paradox. That in itself would be inconsequential, but with magic as a catalyst a paradox can be resolved. Magic and the laws of physics are often enough contradictory.”

Tetsuya felt frustration bubble in his chest. “If that were true, that would mean chaos can be summoned. From where? And how?”

“Magic.” Azuki said gravely. “Listen, I _know_ things. I can recite to you each and every physical law in existence. They do exist. That is an absolute fact. But the reality is, magic exists outside those laws. It follows rules, because we perceive it to follow rules. The magic we use is restricted by the very restriction we put on our minds. I think…” He hesitated. “I think our friend here,” he nodded towards Akashi, “knows very well what I mean.”

Tetsuya stared hard at the darkness, but it was impossible to make out the exact impression on Azuki’s face. “Are you saying that theoretically everything is possible as long as we could imagine it and have the magic power to back it up?”

“Theoretically.” He said. “As much as scientists want us to believe otherwise, we do not understand magic. It is energy in its widest sense, and it follows a certain set of rules. But these rules are not static. Magic is in a constant flow and no one can say how large the exact amount of magic energy is or where it came from. Humans can mold this energy, some better than others. It can be shaped with runes and tools, which we call alchemy. The higher an individual’s magical affinity is, the more specified its output. Ability is essentially a very highly condensed form of magical affinity.”

Tetsuya nodded, feeling a bit of impatience. These were all things he already knew.

Azuki seemed to pick up on his annoyance, because he finished up quickly. “The key is, magic is omnipotent. The only restriction that truly applies is that of the human mind. Outside of that, nearly everything is possible.”

“In short,” Tetsuya said, “if these people can imagine it, they could summon chaos.”

“It is merely a theory.” Akashi said softly. “There are other restrictions that apply to magic.” There was something to the way he said it, the way it seemed as though he had tried once to achieve the impossible and failed. Tetsuya couldn’t help but wonder what it was.

Azuki shrugged. It was hardly noticeable in the darkness. “The important thing is, that is what these people believe. I don’t know if there is something that can be summoned or if there even needs to be something. But I am very much scared of the possibilities.”

“They have proven that they won’t be stopped by small means.” Tetsuya said. “It does not matter if there is something out there or not. They won’t stop before they achieve their goal, and even if they do that, I am afraid it does not end there.”

Azuki snorted. “True. I guess that’s why you’re after them.”

“Where are they?” Tetsuya asked.

“Too close for comfort.” Azuki said with a sigh. “I’m afraid we’re about to get company. As I said, they have come to me before and they have made it clear they will come again. One of their members is headed here to find me. It is best we split up soon.”

“Akashi, please have a look out.” Tetsuya said and Akashi obeyed without a word.

“Tell me everything you can about them.” He said to Azuki.

“They have a hideout in Koto, at the southernmost point of the Wakasu Seaside Park. At the moment, Shao Qing is there. I know they have more hideouts, but Shao is the only member I actually know, being a public figure and all. The one that came to me was… it is hard to describe, but he was masked in a way that made it impossible to see him. It was different from you.

“The agents of _Arājakatā_ are fatalistic and dangerous. To sacrifice a finger is considered nothing among them. That should give you an idea just how dangerous they can be.”

Tetsuya thought of the encounter they had in Kinogawa’s, no Shao Qing apartment. The blood splattered on the floor, the crude circle drawn on the floor. No, losing a finger seemed like child’s play compared to human sacrifice. “What else?” He urged.

“They’re bad. They want to invite chaos into this world. That’s all I know really. Shao Qing is their leader and I think this whole stunt is to draw attention from something that is going to happen soon. I don’t know. Maybe they’re going for the big summon. Whatever it is, it’s going to be bad.”

“Thank you.” Tetsuya said and stood.

“Yeah well. I hope you’ll put an end to their schemes. But I’d rather wish you good luck. You’re going to need it.” Azuki raised a hand in farewell. “I’m going to jump town for a bit. It’s too risky to stay. Tell Takao I said hello.” With that, he was gone, swallowed up by the creeping darkness of the night.

Tetsuya looked around but he couldn’t see Akashi anywhere. There was no sign of any possible attackers, but it was better to be careful.

He had to find Akashi and then get out of here. Something, a root maybe, caught with his foot and Tetsuya stumbled. He just barely caught his fall with his hands, scratching up his palms in the process. The ground was moist and muddy, squelching as he made impact. Odd. He didn’t remember it being this moist when they arrived.

It was well honed instincts that warned him and Kuroko threw his entire body to the side, just in time as something large barreled past him. Splashes of wet hit Tetsuya’s skin and soaked his clothes.

Tetsuya rolled to his feet, the muddy ground clinging to him like eager hands. A dagger slid into his hand from the sheath hidden under his sleeves, an almost reflexive response. He hadn’t thought to bring his specially equipped gun with him, but in this darkness, it would have done little good anyway. He looked around, but he could not make out his attacker.

This time it was the faint slosh of water that gave him warning. Tetsuya jumped backwards, out of the attack zone. A fist of water punched the air where he had stood only moments ago. Someone had to be controlling the water. Tetsuya bit down on a curse. Immunity against magic was nice and well, but it didn’t protect against physical force. And if his attacker was smart, he would stay at a distance, leaving Tetsuya little room for a counterattack.

He saw another fist coming from the corner of his eyes and jumped out of its way. He landed, but the ground was uneven and Tetsuya lost his footing. He slashed forward to parry, but the water parted before him without resistance. The next moment something slammed into his side. It knocked the breath right out of him and Tetsuya’s knife went skittering somewhere into the darkness. He landed hard and the water pressed down on him. Nothing seemed to be broken, but he couldn’t move with the water bearing down on him.

And even then, the pressure increased. It felt like a giant fist was crushing Tetsuya’s chest and he had to fight for every scrap of air to squeeze through his lungs. His vision was getting unsteady; blotches f black bled in from the side. And then, just as he thought he wasn’t going to make it, the pressure disappeared and the water came splashing down on him. Tetsuya had the presence of mind to close his eyes and mouth, but some of it still ended up in his windpipe. He coughed and rolled on his side just in time to throw it all up again.

“You seem to be in trouble.” A calm voice observed.

“Akashi-kun.” Tetsuya’s voice was hoarse and seemed to scrape painfully against his throat.

“Interestingly, I would have assumed you had less trouble dealing with attackers.” Akashi continued as if Tetsuya hadn’t said anything. The water had soaked him through to the bones, but Tetsuya had a feeling the attack was not over yet. He quickly rolled to his feet. His vision was still unsteady, but he could make out more of his surroundings now. The moon was peeking from behind a curtain of clouds, casting its pale light over the scene.

Akashi stood a distance away, close to the street; arms crossed in front of him and seemingly content to just watch. The attacker was nowhere in sight. Tetsuya could just barely make out the overturned earth near Akashi’s feet, where something of a scuffle must have taken place.

“Where is-“ He was cut off, before he could finish the question. The ground underneath his feet started shaking; throwing like a bucking horse and Tetsuya had to jump and then roll to get out of the influence zone. He cast his eyes about, but still he couldn’t make out the attacker.

Tetsuya scrambled to his feet and ran towards the street. The further away he got from the water, the harder it would be to reach him. It should also proof more difficult to control pavement than soil.

“What are you doing?” He snapped at Akashi, who had yet to make another move to help him.

“I am keeping an eye out.” Akashi said. Tetsuya didn’t have the leisure to check Akashi’s expression, but he still could hear the faint amusement in his voice. “I am supposed to follow your orders, am I not?”

The ground convulsed again, before Tetsuya could reply. He threw his body forward, hitting pavement hard. The collision knocked the air from his lungs, but at least he had won a moment to catch his breath.

“You are striking a poor figure, Kuroko.” Akashi commented idly. He did not seem bothered in the least by the still shaking ground. “I expected more.”

“Akashi-kun,” Tetsuya snapped, “would you _please_ take care of this.”

“Of course.” Akashi said. And just like that, the shaking stopped. Akashi pushed away from the fence with enviable elegance. Tetsuya’s vision was swimming and he had yet to catch his breath. Still, he couldn’t quite keep his eyes away from Akashi. The way he moved was reminiscent of a prowling cat, with intent and absolute grace. Akashi came to a stop a few meters away from the waterfront. Tetsuya could barely make out what was happening. Seemingly out of nowhere a man appeared, stumbling away from Akashi who followed smoothly. He must have used a spell to shield himself, something to physical enter the pathway of light around him. That way, even Tetsuya would be fooled.

Akashi reached for the man but before he could make contact, a light erupted, engulfing both Akashi and the man. When Tetsuya could see again, Akashi was alone.

“What happened?” Tetsuya asked when Akashi had reached the road. He looked entirely unruffled and not even a little bothered that his prey had gotten away.

“Outside interference,” Akashi said. “He seemed to have been tethered to a safe spot. He triggered the spell before I could stop him.”

Tetsuya grimaced. “Why didn’t you warn me?”

“Why would I have done that?” Akashi asked. There was something in his voice, a challenge maybe. It felt as though Akashi was testing him.

Tetsuya gritted his teeth. Everything hurt and he had a mind to pummel Akashi to the ground so he would hurt as well. “I told you to keep watch.”

“I did.” The cold in Akashi’s eyes was obvious, even in the darkness.

“Next time, Akashi-kun should prioritize my life.” Tetsuya said acidly. He had thought they had been getting along at least on the most basic level. Obviously, he had been wrong. But that Akashi would so blatantly ignore his duties.

Akashi’s smile seemed to be chipped from ice. “I did make sure you didn’t drown,” He said with a cold condescension. “I expected you to handle yourself better in a fight. Although now I understand why you needed a bodyguard.”

Tetsuya gave a pointed look to Akashi’s collar. “We wouldn’t go to such lengths, if I didn’t need one.” He said tersely. Akashi’s smile only grew sharper. He seemed infinitely more dangerous than the faceless attacker.

“We should get going. There might as well be backup coming.” Akashi’s smile was sardonic. “The prize did get away after all. And you are largely to blame for that.” Tetsuya bit down on the angry response that rose to his lips. There was no time for that now.

They made their way back down the road towards the car. The lights in the bar were off and he could only hope the patrons were okay. Tetsuya’s entire body hurt like he had been put through a laundry wrangler. He was tired, wet and overall miserable, and he had yet to make sense of everything that had been revealed today.

All he wanted to do was take a hot shower, ideally followed by a long hot bath and then fall asleep. Maybe dump Akashi in the river before that. That would do a great length to make him feel better.

What had Aida been thinking when she assigned Akashi as his bodyguard? And what was he thinking that he wasn’t immediately going through with the idea to dump Akashi in the river? He had to be crazy.

When Tetsuya finally pulled up in front of his apartment, he was exhausted. He had been constantly on edge, checking the rearview mirror every few seconds to see if they were followed. Whenever there was a car behind them for more than a few seconds, he became on edge. Just to shake some of the paranoia, he took a longer route, making frequent detours to shake possible pursuers.

Akashi wisely kept silent.

He let them inside with fingers that had barely any feeling left in them. They were stiff from both the cold and the pressure he had used to hold on to the steering wheel. In his panic-ridden state, he had not thought to turn on the car’s heater. Tetsuya almost dropped the keys on his first attempt.

There was so much to think about but all he wanted to do was sleep. Akashi followed him silently, toeing off his shoes after Tetsuya. Tetsuya still thought it incredible unfair that Akashi looked like he just came from a leisurely afternoon stroll while Tetsuya looked as though someone had pulled him out of a waste water pipe. He even smelled the part. At least, that way only one set of his clothes were ruined.

“I’ll go take a bath.” Technically, Akashi was his guest and he should offer him the first go at the bathroom, but Akashi was not the one covered in mud and grime. He would have to wait his turn. Tetsuya didn’t wait to see how Akashi was reacting, before retreating into the bathroom.

Opening up mud-caked buttons with stiff fingers was a challenge, but Tetsuya managed. He threw his clothes in the laundry basket, relieved to peel the smelly fabric off his skin. The hot water was another relief when it finally sprayed on his cooled body, washing away the traces of mud and river water. Moments later, Tetsuya sank into the bathtub and was asleep within seconds.

He woke with a start from a shapeless dream and the sense of being chased. He was cold all over and Tetsuya belatedly realized that he had fallen asleep in now cold bathwater. He quickly climbed out of the water and wrapped himself in a towel. At least he was clean now.

Since he completely forgot to bring a change of clothes with him, Tetsuya had no choice but to wrap himself in the towel and venture into his bedroom to get dressed.

Akashi, to Tetsuya’s surprise, was still awake. He sat in Tetsuya’s living room, cup in hand, seemingly deep in thought. An odd expression crossed his eyes when he saw Tetsuya. Color rose in his cheeks and Tetsuya quickly made his way into his bedroom. It shouldn’t mean anything to expose skin in front of Akashi, but for some reason Tetsuya could feel the intensity of Akashi’s gaze crawl over his skin.

Akashi followed him moments later, just as Tetsuya had pulled on a pair of loose pants. He carried a second cup of tea in his hand. “Drink this.” He ordered, handing him the cup. “Then lie down.” Tetsuya took a sip. It was chamomile and already cooled off to room temperature, but he drank it all the same. Akashi hadn’t left and seemed to be waiting for something.

“I’m tired.” He muttered once he was finished.

“I know. But I’d rather have a look at that bruise of yours.”

Tetsuya had completely forgotten. The cold water had numbed his skin and he had been too tired to register much of the pain when he’d toweled off. But now, in the unforgiving light of the ceiling lamp, the bruised up skin on his upper torso stood out like a splotched painting on white canvas, along with multiple other cuts and bruises littered all over his body. There were even a few abrasions in places and now that he was focusing on it, he could feel the sting where the skin had scraped off his palms.

“It’s of no matter.” He said and put down his cup.

“I wouldn’t say so.” said Akashi with a note of warning.

Tetsuya relented. Had he been less exhausted he might have examined Akashi’s erratic behavior, but he simply didn’t have the mind for it. There was already a too long list of things he needed to figure out, this one ranked rather low in priority. Akashi did not seem intent to kill him, so there was no point in expending energy.

He lay down on his back, as the majority of the bruise was on the left side of his chest, stretching down to the sides and almost to his hips. It was unevenly colored, as though the force of the water punch had been applied irregularly.

Akashi inspected the area with keen eyes. Tetsuya felt a blush form on his skin from the scrutiny. Then Akashi began touching him. He was gentle, yet Tetsuya still yelped as the pressure pushed on his bruised skin.

“Why is Kuroko’s skin cold?” Akashi asked with the barest hint of accusation in his voice. “Did you fall asleep in the water?” Tetsuya nodded and Akashi sighed. “I wasn’t aware I had accepted a job as babysitter.” He said it in a somewhat offhanded way, almost like he didn’t really care, but Tetsuya felt a sudden spark of anger well up within him.

“Akashi-kun doesn’t have to take care of me.” He said coldly.

Akashi, who was about to reach for the ointment he had undoubtedly salvaged from Kuroko’s medical cabinet, stopped. He turned his eyes on Tetsuya with a cold expression in them. “Someone has to. It doesn’t seem Kuroko is too concerned with his well being.”

Tetsuya almost jumped off the bed, ignoring the flare of pain in his side. “I can take care of myself, thank you very much.” His voice dripped with ice and he glared at Akashi full force.

“Is that so?” Akashi asked mockingly. He dropped the ointment back on the night stand and crossed his arms. “Is that why you let yourself fall asleep in the bath? It is one thing to be careless in battle, but at least have the decency to clean up after yourself.”

Tetsuya’s blood heated up with anger. “It is none of Akashi-kun’s business. And I’d rather not be lectured from _you_ about how to handle a fight. I can take care of myself.” He snapped, hands balled into fists.

“Evidently not.” Akashi said smoothly and his eyes dropped pointedly to the bruise still proudly displayed on Tetsuya’s side. His nonchalance and unruffled calm only served to fuel Tetsuya’s anger. He was tired and miserable and all he wanted to do was strangle the arrogant expression from Akashi’s face.

“I would appreciate if Akashi-kun would stick to his job. I am in need of many things, but a meddling babysitter that oversteps his boundaries is not one of them. On the other hand, we wouldn’t be in this mess if my bodyguard had done his job properly.” Tetsuya snapped with all the venom he could muster. He had gone too far. Tetsuya knew it even before he said the words, but the anger and frustration inside were too big to let sense rule.

He could see how Akashi visibly withdrew into himself. The expression in his eyes was so frigid it sent chills down Tetsuya’s spine. In an effort to hide how unsettled he was - as much by the situation as his own viciousness - he grabbed his shirt and pulled it on.

Akashi’s voice when he replied was deceptively friendly. “As you wish. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience my _master_.”

Akashi strode past Tetsuya to the door and in a flare of sudden panic and shock Tetsuya grabbed his arm to stop him. Akashi turned and their eyes met. For a moment Tetsuya could see a crack in the icy veneer, revealing a pool of twisting emotions underneath. It lasted only for a short moment before Akashi’s eyes glazed over with another sheet of icy contempt.

“What else could you want? I didn’t come here to hold your hand and therefore will refrain from doing so, as per your wishes.”

“Then why _are_ you here?” Tetsuya’s mind was scrambling, but he couldn’t make sense of his own emotions, let alone Akashi’s frigid rage. He regretted the question as soon as he asked it. He knew the answer, what else could Akashi want but his freedom? He didn’t want to hear it. Tetsuya let go of Akashi’s arm, but Akashi made no move. He kept looking at Tetsuya with those cold eyes of his, but there was a pensive nature to his stare now.

“I wonder about that.” He said, almost to himself. This time, Tetsuya let him go without a fight.

Sleep didn’t come easily that night.


	6. Tetsuya IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are way too many philosophical debates in this fic.

Morning found Tetsuya exhausted and in pain. The argument with Akashi had taken up all his mind, preventing him effectively from finding any sleep. Now he felt stiff and aching, every movement sent a dull throb of pain through his body. He tried to apply the ointment Akashi had brought yesterday, but he found he could barely move around to reach all the injured areas. The obvious thing would be to ask Akashi for help, but after yesterday he simply felt he couldn’t.

As it was, he wouldn’t get any legwork done today. It was just as well; he did have a lot of strategizing to do anyway. Pulling on clothes was a challenge, so Tetsuya settled for an old yukata his grandmother gifted to him when he had been a teenager. He hadn’t much grown since then, much to his chagrin, but now he was just glad that the yukata still fit him without fuss.

Akashi was already awake - no surprise there - when Tetsuya finally made his way into the living room. He had the TV turned on and on mute, on what seemed to be a nature documentary. He was reading one of Tetsuya’s books. He seemed almost cozy, the way he sat with his legs propped under him on the couch. It was a nice scene; one Tetsuya felt he could look at for quite a while without growing tired of it.

He didn’t look up or acknowledge Tetsuya in any way. It stung more than Tetsuya had expected, but he supposed he deserved it.

Tetsuya fixed himself a quick breakfast. Akashi had already eaten, judging by the drying dishes on the dish rack.

After finishing his food and a cup of green tea, Tetsuya picked up his notebook and sat on the other end of the sofa. Akashi kept ignoring him in favor of his book. The silence was just barely away from being awkward. Tetsuya unmuted the TV after a few moments of blearily staring at the empty pages of his notebook. The noise made it easier to ignore that something was amiss.

Tetsuya uncapped his pen. He needed a plan of action. First of all he needed to recover. There was no point in going out to investigate when he could only move at a snail’s pace. Hopefully, that wouldn’t take too long. The longer the wait, the lesser the chance to actually run into Qing at this hideout. But he should at least be able to find some evidence.

He started taking down notes on what he had learned the day before. It was discontent to find that it was barely enough to fill a page. He had a lot of half baked theories, but very little concrete information. Tetsuya sighed tiredly. He would like to drink another cup of tea, but just the thought of getting up and moving was painful.

Tetsuya spent a good ten minutes staring at another empty page in an effort to come up with a plan. But he simply had not enough information to prepare sufficiently. He already knew the cultists were dangerous, two run-ins had proven that abundantly. But that was what Akashi was for. He merely needed to make sure to give him the appropriate orders.

Everything else, he would have to deal with on the spot.

Tetsuya closed his notebook. He then pulled out the data nodule Aida had given him. Maybe going through the data would help think of something else. He twisted the brass parts into their opening confirmation and retrieved the small data stick nestled inside. At its blunt end sat a small crystal, protected by a thin layer of plastic glass from Tetsuya’s disastrous touch. It did not always happen, but sometimes his immunity had fatal consequences to the magic it came in contact with. After accidentally wiping one of Izuki’s data crystals clear of all its contents, and Aida had declared he was forbidden to touch any sensitive equipment.

Some people - Izuki being one of them - could communicate directly with the crystals, reading and writing data directly with their mind, but Tetsuya was obviously none of them. He had to employ other means.

He plugged the stick into his tablet - a custom fit that had a pressure sensitive screen as opposed to the common screens that reacted to a person’s magical signature. That way devices could be locked to one specific owner. Tetsuya’s screen was worn and scratched in places, but the pressure sensors still worked fine.

The screen flared to life and Tetsuya tapped his fingers a few times to access the data stored on the crystal. The stick functioned as a sort of converter, translating the information into bytes, which then could be read out by the tablet’s software. The data was additionally encrypted by the standard SIU code, but each member had the decryption software.

Tetsuya flicked through the files. Most of it, he had already seen, there was a picture of the summoning circle, the report he wrote up after the incident, Kagami’s hospital admittance file, reports from the crime scene, complete with a list of evidence. A blinking icon alerted him that there had been an update recently. Aida must have sent new data.

He opened an image file that showed a picture of the severed finger that had been sent to the council. As Aida had said, an odd symbol was carved into the tip. He had to check in with Aida soon to see if the analysis department had uncovered anything new.

Tetsuya thumbed open the clean image of both the circle and the rune and put them next to each other. After what he had learned from Azuki, the finger incident was more than suspicious. Maybe he could figure it out by deciphering the rune.

Runic was first and foremost a language. It could be used to translate intent into magic through means of alchemic transmutation. Sometimes it was difficult to ascertain a rune’s purpose. It could be a spell or it could be a message.

“What are you looking at?” Akashi’s voice startled him from his musings. Tetsuya’s heart thumped painfully in shock and he had to force all his self control not to give away his surprise. He hadn’t even noticed Akashi moving.

“Case files.” He said shortly. Akashi did not get the hint and instead settled next to him.

Tetsuya stared straight ahead, thumb hovering awkwardly over the paired images, not sure what he should do. He had been about to compare the runes of the circle with the finger rune to see if there was a match, but he somehow couldn’t concentrate with Akashi hovering this close. Their conversation from the day before was still fresh in his memory.

“Where did this come from?” Akashi pointed at the single rune.

Tetsuya explained, all the while keeping his eyes down on the tablet instead of anywhere near Akashi.

Akashi made an acknowledging noise and took the tablet from Tetsuya’s hands. “This is quite interesting.”

“I am not sure what it means.” Tetsuya admitted. “I have tried to find a match in the circle, but there is none.”

“There wouldn’t be one.” Akashi said. He traced the circle with his finger. “It’s a linker that connects the bearer of this mark to the circle as an energy source. After the circle failed, the link had to be cut off, or else the backlash would have caused quite the destruction. It is usually used in transmutation circles when mass is converted, as the additional energy has to come from somewhere. A very dangerous and therefore forbidden practice. It tends to kill the source, as the flow of energy can’t be adequately controlled.”

“But this is Kino- Qing’s finger. He is supposedly their leader? Why would they use his finger for something this dangerous? And why send the finger to the council afterwards? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I suppose it is both a demonstration of power and a reproach for interrupting the ceremony. It might be a warning to refrain from further interruptions or councilor Kinogawa will suffer. Of course, that warning is perfunctory, as we are not supposed to be aware of the councilor’s true identity. ”

Tetsuya nodded slowly. “Still, it is a rather roundabout approach. Even if the finger had to be cut of as a necessity, why send it and reveal a potential clue? Why tether the circle to your leader, if the ritual offers such a high risk?”

“Kuroko is forgetting one very important fact.” Akashi said. “These people are fanatics. They operate on an entirely irrational mindset. It would be unwise to attempt to apply logic.”

Tetsuya carefully shifted to lean back against the backrest. It forced Akashi to move closer so that they both could keep looking at the screen, but Tetsuya’s muscled had been protesting for quite a while. He thought about what Akashi had just said. “That makes things more complicated.” He said half to himself. “But it does corroborate what Azuki-san claimed is their goal, I suppose. To summon chaos, a chaotic mind must be helpful.”

“There is this as well.” Akashi tapped a continuous sequence of runes that followed the outermost line of the circle. “It didn’t make much sense before. It is a transcription - sloppy as it may be - of ancient Mesopotamian writing, although I do not know its specific origin. It praises Tiamat as the creator of worlds and petitions her blessing.”

Tetsuya frowned. “Who is Tiamat?”

“Many beliefs cite Chaos as the origin of everything, be it life, Gods or matter. Gods were born from Chaos first and then they turned around to fight and subdue Chaos to pave the way for mortal life. Tiamat is simply an iteration of this myth. Mesopotamia-centered religions believed the world was made from her body.”

Tetsuya took a moment to sort through the new information. “In other words, Tiamat is the embodiment of Chaos in this specific belief.”

“Quite so.”

“Which means these people indeed want to summon Chaos, or something related into this world. It would make sense to ask for the patronage of Chaos itself, if that were the case.” Tetsuya paused. “I still can’t quite belief something like this even exists.”

“It doesn’t. Not in the way you imagine it, at least.”

“And what would that be?”

“An embodiment. A personification. Chaos is a state if you will. A law of nature.” Akashi smiled faintly. “A fundamental force of this universe. Entropy in other words. It can’t be summoned, as it doesn’t have an actual form. At least, that is what I would like to say. As it is, chaos has its agents, if you will. They function as its extension in the material world. A more prominent example would be the time weavers.”

Tetsuya frowned. “They are a myth.” His grandmother had been fond of the tale of the weavers of times - mythical beings that wove the strands of time into a never-ending tapestry. She used to say that every myth carries a grain of truth at its core.”

Akashi ‘s smile was faint, barely more than a twitch of his lips. Tetsuya had to turn his head to see it clearly. Once again, he was struck by how beautiful Akashi was.

“Magic gives shape to things that are inherently shapeless.” Tetsuya cited what his grandmother had once said to him. He had been too young to understand it at the time, but the words had stuck with him through all the years. Even now, he still barely understood their meaning.

This time, Akashi’s smile was much more obvious. He was so different from yesterday. Like this, Tetsuya could almost believe they were friends. He felt a pang of regret. What it could have been, had they met under different circumstances, the thought was bittersweet. Maybe in some other reality, they were friends. Maybe - just for the sake of hope - there was a world out there in which neither of them were burdened with the truths in their hearts.

“That is a good way to put it. Magic has given shape to the world - it is what many scientists believe. If it could do that - provide the spark that made matter come alive - who knows what else it could do.”

“But magic is inherently chaotic.” Tetsuya said. “There is no intent behind it. Nothing to determine the direction of its energy.”

“Magic has a state of order as well. It _is_ energy and as such is subject to entropy versus homeostasis. Disorder versus order.” Akashi countered. “The reason why science has made such a concerted effort to refute religion is because of magic’s nature. We don’t understand it. Not its origin, nor its cause and effect. All we know is based on empiric observation. We can infer from what we observe but we have no means of proving. Just because it could be possible that magic created life, does not mean it did.”

“What if there was someone there? Or something. A manifestation of intent. To give direction.”

“Then we’d have a God.”

“It is a scary thought.” He said.

“A God that could point magic to create life, a God that could utilize magic to create life. I would not wish for such an entity to exist. It would be so easy to end us all.”

Tetsuya stared at the TV, where a bear cub was trying to find its way back to its mother. The narrators’ quiet voice was a low murmur in the background. It would be so easy for the camera team to lead the cub to its mother. But they didn’t. They just observed. “Maybe they do exist. Maybe they are just watching.”

“The idea of a God-like existence is scary enough in itself. But to know there is a well of indefinite power, open to anyone with the inclination.” Akashi’s smile was almost sad. “Humanity would have to go mad with fear.”

“Is that why the existence of Gods has been disproven? Is that why the effort has been made in the first place?

“Who knows?” Akashi handed Tetsuya back the tablet. “Magic gives shape to shapeless ideas. But where do these ideas come from? And whose hand guides magic? One could spend an eternity and would not find an answer.”

“Maybe the answer is that there is no answer.” Tetsuya turned his head again to look at Akashi. On the TV screen, the bear cub was too weak to continue looking for its mother. He did not want to see it die. “If there is an answer, should Akashi-kun not be able to grasp it?”

Akashi looked oddly tired. In his eyes, a dying bear cub was reflected. “It is not as simple as that.” He said. Tetsuya thought he might have heard a trace of regret.

Tetsuya finally tore his eyes away. He didn’t want to, but they were drawn right to the screen of the TV. On it, mother bear had just been reunited with her cub. She nudged her nose against its prone body, urging it to stand up. A man sneaked into the picture, carefully inching his way closer to the two and placing a place of tree bark with berries and fruits on it near the little one’s nose. It slowly lifted its head, blinking sluggishly as though just awoken.

“I will go and take a bath now.” Akashi said and stood. Tetsuya nodded, without drawing his eyes away from the screen. The cub let out a low keening sound and tried to move closer to the offered food. The man had already disappeared.

Akashi was almost at the door. “Akashi-kun.” Tetsuya called after him. Akashi stopped in the door and looked at him. Tetsuya had to pull his eyes away from the TV to face him. “I’m sorry. For yesterday. I should not have lashed out at you.”

An odd expression crossed Akashi’s eyes. Then his lips quirked into the faintest of smiles. “Kuroko should lie down.” He said almost softly before walking out.

Maybe somewhere someone was watching them. And maybe hat wasn’t so bad at all.

Tetsuya hadn’t realized how exhausted his body was. He fell asleep moments after Akashi had left the room. When he woke an indeterminable amount of time later, there was a blanket draped over him and Akashi was reading in the chair opposite him.

Despite what they both have said yesterday, Tetsuya felt a sense of warmth as he trailed his fingers over the soft fabric.

Tetsuya sat up slowly. He couldn’t hide the grimace of pain as his beaten body protested the movement. Akashi eyed him, but didn’t say anything. Tetsuya wondered if it was worth his pride to ask Akashi for help. He carefully put his feet on the ground, testing their strength. The result was disconcerting. He felt stiff as though his joints had rusted through, but worse was the lingering pains everywhere in his body that flared up every time he moved.

He glanced at the clock hanging from the wall above the kitchen entrance. He had slept for maybe two hours, which meant that it was nearly lunchtime.

“What do you want to eat?” He asked and pretended he wasn’t totally stalling the inevitable moment when he would have to get up.

Akashi raised an eyebrow at him. “I understand you don’t want to admit that you can barely move, but this is taking it a bit too far.”

Tetsuya frowned. He opened his mouth to insist on that he could very much move, but then realized that he would have to own up to his words. And he _really didn’t want to_.

Akashi closed his book and put it down on the coffee table. “I will prepare something for Kuroko.”As he stood, the collar flashed from under his buttoned shirt. The guilt that settled in Tetsuya’s gut made his insides squirm.

“Akashi-kun can cook?” Tetsuya asked to mask his uneasiness.

Akashi smirked. “I don’t have to.”

Tetsuya stared after him, lost for a moment until he realized what Akashi had just implied. He scrambled to get to his feet. Forgotten was the pain in his body. Surely, it couldn’t be that Akashi could in fact do what he implied he could?

Tetsuya leaned against the frame of his kitchen door. He would have liked to sit down and not move for the next week, but at least he felt like some of the soreness in his muscles had eased. The rest of his body still felt like a giant bruise.

“Kuroko is defeating the purpose of me preparing his meal.” Akashi chided without looking up. He was pulling out ingredients from Tetsuya’s fridge and cupboards.

Tetsuya didn’t reply. Akashi arranged the vegetables on the counter and then rooted through the cupboards until he found a packet of chicken stock. He had yet to pull out a single utensil.

Akashi could bend reality. That was what his file had said. So far, he was the only one reported with this kind of power. He was widely considered one of the - if not the - most powerful ability users in the world. His file had offered no measurement of the whole extent of his powers, but their potential was nearly unlimited.

It would not surprise Tetsuya, if Akashi could create a meal, simply by reshaping the reality of the food. There had to be limitations though. His file listed range as a limiting factor; Akashi could only reshape what he touched directly. But even so, that would make him nearly omnipotent. There had to be something else, a toll on his mind or body. Magic this powerful, always came with a price.

Akashi pulled out a pot. “How hard can one chicken soup be?” He said in passing. Almost as if he had heard Tetsuya’s hectic thoughts. Akashi filled the pot with water and put it on the stove.

Tetsuya felt rather embarrassed. He had gotten worked up for nothing. Akashi had merely referred to the fact that no skill was needed to make chicken soup. He spent another minute of being hung up over the fact that Akashi was going to treat him to the default sick people food, when two things occurred to him.

First, he was stalling again, because he didn’t want to move.

Second, Akashi had very obviously no idea what he was doing. It hadn’t been obvious at first with the decisive way Akashi handled everything, but upon closer inspection, Akashi was making a mess of everything. The water was on its way to a boil before even a single ingredient had been added, Akashi’s chopped up carrots looked very neat and even but were cut so small they wouldn’t be able to absorb any flavor, let alone provide substance to the soup. Something similar could be said about the scallions.

Tetsuya sighed. He really wanted to go back and lie down, but he didn’t really want to suffer through the train wreck of a meal that was about to happen.

He hobbled over and turned off the stove. Akashi stopped mutilating the carrots. “Is something wrong?”

“That depends,” Tetsuya said drily. He pulled the knife from Akashi’s hand. Akashi didn’t let go immediately and their fingers brushed for a moment. Tetsuya ignored the stumble in his heart beat. “If you want to make the soup edible, you should maybe follow a recipe.”

Akashi clicked his tongue. “I think I am doing great.”

Tetsuya raised his eyebrows and looked at the pre-packaged chicken soup. “I own it, so I can’t really say anything but you _do_ realize there is frozen chicken in the freezer?”

“So?”

Tetsuya got the distinct feeling Akashi was acting out of pride rather than conviction.

Instead of a reply, Tetsuya went to fetch the chicken from the fridge. It took longer than it should, because moving was very much painful and therefore slow. It didn’t help that Akashi was watching him with that same secretly amused expression that seemed to be his default favorite.

“In our combined interest, please let me do the cooking.” Tetsuya said with no small amount of exasperation. Akashi didn’t object when Tetsuya took the cutting board from him. He put the minced carrots and green onions aside; they wouldn’t add much but he hated to waste food.

“How did Akashi-kun ever manage to live alone without being able to cook?”

“There was food service.” Akashi said. He didn’t sound enthused about the topic, so Tetsuya decided to drop it. He made quick work of the remaining vegetables. Akashi watched him the entire time. Since the lasting silence was beginning to feel awkward, Tetsuya started explaining what he was doing and why.

“If you cut the carrots like this,” he demonstrated by cutting in an angle and then rolling the carrot on its side to cut again, “you create a bigger surface, therefore allowing the carrot to absorb more flavor.”

“What about the chicken?” Tetsuya had put the pieces of chicken leg into the sink to thaw. It was a bit of a culinary stretch but the meat would have to thaw in the soup once he had prepared the rest of it.

“We need to separate the meat from the bones. The bones will add the flavor to the soup and the meat will be cooked through nicely.”

Akashi gave him a questioning look. “Why don’t just use the stock?”

Tetsuya wrinkled his noise. “Because nothing beats fresh chicken soup. Besides, we have enough ingredients for multiple portions. We can freeze what we don’t eat today and thaw it later. I was also planning on adding some of the tofu we bought.”

Akashi hummed, but Tetsuya could see the tiny pleased smile on his lips.

“Now, does Akashi-kun think he can cut up the meat without making it minced meat?” He asked. Akashi gave him a baleful look, but complied.

After finishing with the vegetables Tetsuya dumped them in the pot, after adjusting the amount of water. Akashi had managed to neatly separate the meat from the bones and Tetsuya dumped that into the pot as well. He turned on the heat.

“Would you like a snack for the time we wait?” Tetsuya asked after.

Akashi tilted his head. “Isn’t that a bit redundant?”

Tetsuya smiled wryly. This was surprisingly amusing. Akashi obviously wasn’t useless in the kitchen and the way he handled the meat was enviable, but he knew very little about the preparation of food. “It takes three hours for the soup to cook.”

The look Akashi gave him was worth the time he would have to spend waiting.

The doorbell rang with perfect precision five minutes before the soup was ready to be served. As if the smell of nearly finished food had summoned him, Kise was standing on the other side, beaming at Tetsuya with way too much enthusiasm for this time of the day. Or any time of day, really.

Kise was a sight to behold. For more than one reason. He had honey colored eyes and hair, dressed impeccably and always to impress, but it was his personality that stood out the most. He was bubbly and sparkly and generally a ray of sunshine with a smile that could melt the polar caps. He was also a giant pain in the ass.

Akashi followed Tetsuya to the door, after a short argument about safety and _no, Akashi-kun, I am perfectly able to open my own front door_. Tetsuya kind of regretted not letting Akashi handle it. Because Kise was nice and a genuinely good friend. But he was also quite the handful. Especially when his body made even breathing painful.

“Kurokocchi.” Kise exclaimed and threw himself at Tetsuya. Normally, he would have been able to dodge easily, but his body was too beaten up and therefore to slow. The only reason Tetsuya didn’t fall over was because Kise barreled them into the wall.

Stars exploded in front of Tetsuya’s eyes.

Kise, oblivious as ever, didn’t even notice.

“Kise-kun.” Tetsuya said through the pain that flared in front of his eyes. “Please, get off me.”

“Kurokocchi is so mean.” Kise complained, but did let go, mercifully. Kise took a step back to toe off his shoes - uninvited as usual - when he noticed Akashi. Akashi was tense, in a way that suggested he had been very close to dismantling Kise on the spot.

Kise narrowed his eyes, slowly looking from Akashi to Tetsuya and then back. “Kurokocchi,” Kise surreptitiously moved closer to Tetsuya, positioning himself between Akashi and him. His eyes flicked to the collar that peeked out from under Akashi’s shirt. A dark expression settled on Kise’s face. “Who is that?” Tetsuya inwardly sighed. Kise was way too dramatic sometimes. At least he meant well.

“Kise-kun, this is Akashi-kun, my bodyguard. Akashi-kun, this is Kise-kun.”

Akashi inclined his head, not leaving Kise with his eyes for even a moment. He was less obvious about it, but he was sizing up Kise with equal intensity.

Kise narrowed his eyes further. “What kind of bodyguard lets his charge get hurt?” He said with that special brand of sniffy, hurt pride that only he could muster. So he had noticed after all.

Akashi for that matter, was entirely unconcerned. “Maybe the leash wasn’t tight enough.” He said with thinly veiled amusement before retreating into the main room.

“Eh? Kurokocchi, what did he mean?”

Tetsuya stepped around Kise, but before he could follow Akashi, Kise grabbed his arm. Of course, he wouldn’t be distracted for long. “Kurokocchi’s hurt.” Kise’s golden eyes were shadowed with worry.

Tetsuya exhaled slowly. “It is nothing.”

Kise’s face scrunched up, destroying the pretty boy image that clung to him like a second skin. “Kurokocchi-“

“Kise-kun.” Tetsuya cut him off. He felt miserable, but he still could muster quite an impressive stare. Kise wilted after only moments.

“Alright, I’ll trust you. But if there is anything you need, you come to me, okay?”

There was little that could stand in the face of Kise’s sincerity. Tetsuya acquiesced with a nod. Instantly, Kise’s face lit up with joy.

“How come you have the time to visit? I thought you were busy with work this month.”

“Kasamatsu-senpai broke his legs when the hot balloon I bought him a trip for crashed. So he’s taken sick leave and he has forbidden me from doing any work without him. He said I couldn’t be trusted with taking care of myself. Can you believe it? Kasamatsu-senpai is so mean.”

“He- what?”

“He said I couldn’t take care of myself.”

Tetsuya was very inclined to shake his head in exasperation. But remarking on the story would only prompt Kise to go off on a tangent. And Tetsuya was really not in the mood to hear about the many misadventures of Kise the model and his long-suffering manager Kasamatsu.

“Would you like to join our meal?” Tetsuya asked with the gravity of a man sentenced to death. Kise thankfully refrained from expressing his happiness with yet another crushing hug.

This was going to be a long day.

Predictably, Kise did not leave after lunch. He made himself comfortable on Tetsuya’s couch like he owned the place, taking possession of the remote and switching them to a channel that hosted some sort of idol show. Tetsuya was simply too exhausted to deal with him right now so he simply sunk in his armchair with a book and an expression that dared anyone to disrupt his peace.

Akashi watched the whole thing with a rather amused expression.

“So,” Kise said after spending approximately three seconds on actually watching his show, “just what is going on, Kurokocchi?”

Tetsuya put down his book. He would have preferred if Kise were less sharp sometimes. It would make things a whole lot easier.

“Nothing of Kise’s concern.” He said evenly.

Kise eyed him for a moment. “Really?” He said in a drawn out way that made sure he wasn’t quite done yet.

Tetsuya tilted his head. The soup had replenished some of his strength and not moving did a lot to make him feel better. But already, dealing with Kise was giving him a headache.

“Kise-kun, I appreciate your concern. But this is a matter of utmost discretion and I’m afraid I am not allowed to share it with you.”

“Kurokocchi, is it about your job again? You really should quit that. It is dangerous.” There was something off in Kise’s eyes, beyond the petulant worry. Like a warning cut into the amber of his iris.

Tetsuya suppressed a sigh. “I will do my job for as long as I see fit.”

Kise’s face fell and he sighed in that obnoxiously obvious way of his. Akashi pushed away from the wall he was leaning against and stepped forward. His face showed nothing of the usual trace amusement. Tetsuya caught only a glimpse of his expression - tense concentration and a barely noticeable frown - from the corner of his eye as he was focusing on Kise.

“I am worried Kurokocchi,” said Kise. He dropped his eyes and with unnerving accuracy found the exact spot on Tetsuya’s torso where the water fist had hit the hardest.

Tetsuya prided himself in being immune to Kise’s charms, but sometimes it _was_ hard to resist.

“I know,” he said as gently as he could. “But I won’t quit my job. It is important work and I am glad I can contribute.” Kise wasn’t convinced, so Tetsuya inclined his head towards Akashi. “I promise I am in good hands.”

Akashi was eying them with an odd expression. No, Tetsuya realized, he was watching Kise. He looked as though he was searching for something. When Kise turned to follow Tetsuya’s eyes, he met Akashi’s gaze and for a very short, fleeting moment the air was filled with the crackling of static. Kise’s eyes were unnaturally bright.

The moment passed with Kise breaking into a dazzling smile. Akashi shifted slightly and the tension fled as though nothing had happened. Tetsuya wondered if he had imagined it.

“I’m glad.” Kise exclaimed and patted Tetsuya’s knee. “I’m sure he’ll do a good job. But promise me that you will be careful. I heard there is a nasty killer on the loose.”

Tetsuya tapped his finger idly against the spine of his book. From the corner of his eyes he saw Akashi return to his spot against the wall. “Kise-kun, the killer is only after people with abilities.”

Kise blinked. “Oh. I didn’t know that. But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” He was beaming.

“If you consider someone being out there with the skills to kill some of the strongest ability users, then yes it is indeed a good thing.” Tetsuya said dryly.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Kise threw his hands in the air to gesture wildly. “I meant it’s good that Kurokocchi won’t be targeted.”

“That’s right.” Tetsuya allowed. “But Kise-kun is at danger. Please take care.”

Kise waved his concern off with blithe disregard. “I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself. If the killer comes after me, I’ll just run away. He can’t catch me.”

Tetsuya raised an eyebrow. “Kise-kun is indeed fast.”

“Ah, Kurokocchi, you think I am impressive?”

“I think Kise-kun is annoying.” Tetsuya deadpanned, much to Kise’s chagrin. “Please take care either way.” He insisted after Kise had calmed down. And then, because he had come close to dying not so recently, “I would hate if something were to happen to you.”

Kise’s eyes went saucer-wide and he stared. Just stared.

“I think Kuroko broke him.” Akashi said mildly.

“Kise-kun?” Tetsuya leaned slightly forwars, trying to get a better look at Kise’s face. Kise blinked once and then brightened up to almost blinding levels.

“Kurokocchi, I didn’t know you were worrying about me this much.” And he threw himself into Tetsuya’s arms. Tetsuya almost toppled out of his chair, but his body kind of froze up from the pain that shot from his bruises. Kise spent a significant time gushing about how happy he was and Tetsuya just quietly hoped he would walk out of this alive.

“Ah, I’m sorry! Kurokocchi, I forgot, I’m sorry-”

Tetsuya must have spaced out for a moment, because he couldn’t remember Kise moving away from him. He was now looking at him with a worried expression. Tetsuya slowly relaxed his stiffened muscles, barely repressing a wince.

“I am fine.” He said slowly. From behind Kise he caught Akashi’s amused expression. He would have grimaced at him, but Kise was watching him closely.

“Are you sure? Kurokocchi seems rather stiff.”

This time Tetsuya didn’t hold back the grimace. “That is rather rude, Kise-kun. I am younger than you.”

“That wasn’t what I was trying to imply, Kurokocchi.” Kise threw up his hands and even backed up a few steps, panic now written plainly on his face.

“I hope so.”

Kise wasn’t completely convinced, but too guilt-ridden to attempt to pry it out of him. Which was precisely what Tetsuya had intended. Kise’s worry was as overwhelming as his joy. All of his emotions tended to be this and Tetsuya could only stomach so much of that at once.

There was a lapse in the conversation then. Kise stared aimlessly at the screen but he wasn’t really seeing anything. Tetsuya waited for him to come around to whatever had prompted him to visit.

“How’s… how is Aominecchi?” He asked after what seemed like an eternity. He was fiddling with the remote and not looking at Tetsuya.

“Kise-kun should ask him that himself.” Tetsuya said softly.

Kise’s lips lifted into a sad smile. “He doesn’t answer to any of my texts.”

“That is because Kise’s texts are annoying.” Tetsuya said flatly.

“So mean.” Kise’s response was certainly conditioned at this point, because his ridiculously over exaggerated hurt face smoothed out into his normal expression in a matter of seconds. “That’s not really is, isn’t it?” He asked then, for once not bothering with any embellishments.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Tetsuya said. He thought of Aomine’s fixation with his new project. He remembered the things he’d said the last time they spoke.

“That’s good. If Kurokocchi says he’s fine, it must be so.” Kise said with a relieved smiled.

The truth was, Tetsuya wasn’t sure if Aomine would ever be fine again. But that was something Kise needn’t be burdened with.

Kise left shortly after, leaving a very exhausted Tetsuya behind. Akashi, for his part, was mostly amused. “Who was he?” Akashi asked once the door was closed.

Tetsuya allowed himself a sigh and flopped onto the couch. He doubted he would get up anytime soon, but he’d rather sleep right there than move even one more muscle.

“That was Kise Ryouta.” Tetsuya said dully. How did he attract all these weird friends? At least Kagami wasn’t that bad.

“The model?” Akashi had followed him into the living room and was now leaning against the doorframe.

Tetsuya’s surprise let him temporarily forget his injuries and he rolled on his side to better see Akashi. “Akashi-kun has heard of him?” He asked after the pain had finally subsided.

Akashi raised an eyebrow. “Should I not?”

Tetsuya felt heat rise in his cheeks. “I didn’t think…” He looked away. He was too exhausted to watch his mouth and now he had brought up a bad topic.

“I didn’t live under a rock.” Akashi said with the same mild tone he had used earlier. It sounded somewhat placating. It has to be his exhaustion Tetsuya decided.

Still, Akashi’s words had piqued his curiosity, but he couldn’t just go ahead and ask. That would have been awfully inconsiderate.

“You can ask.” Akashi allowed after a moment. Tetsuya blinked in shock. A wry smile curled on Akashi’s lips. “It is quite obvious that Kuroko is curious. You may get it over with now.”

Tetsuya swallowed. He found his tongue wouldn’t quite follow his orders. Akashi tilted his head in expectation. “Isn’t Tateyama… a lot… like prison?”

“Even in prison, there are commodities.” He hadn’t answered the question, Tetsuya noted.

“But…” Tetsuya trailed off, not sure how to phrase what he wanted to say. Akashi merely watched him. “There were rumors.” Tetsuya eventually settled. Akashi only kept looking and Tetsuya took a deep breath. “I know Tateyama is owned by the White Lotus Medi-magical Company.” Tetsuya watched Akahsi’s face closely for any reaction, but none came. “I _know_ they perform illegal medical tests on prisoners. I also know that many of these tests are also performed on members of the community.”

Akashi still didn’t speak and Tetsuya once more struggled for words. All he had to do was phrase one question.

“And now Tetsuya wants to know if medical experiments have been conducted on me.” Akashi said eventually.

Tetsuya nodded mutely.

Akashi regarded him for a moment. His expression was unreadable. Tetsuya could barely stand the tension. Then Akashi’s expression broke off into an odd little smile. “Not in the strict sense of the word, no.”

There was something he was not saying, but Tetsuya did not dare to ask what. For one thing or another, Akashi’s eyes held a haunted look that let Tetsuya’s blood run cold.


	7. Shigehiro III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is totally unrelated to this chapter, but the Nyama are partially inspired by the blood stones from Divinity Original Sin. A great game I can only recommend to all of you.
> 
>  **Edit:** Because I forgot to mention this when posting this chapter, thanks a lot to [akai-anna](http://akai-anna.tumblr.com) for proofreading this!

Shigehiro had learned what fear was at a rather young age, when he had been only nine years old. A man had come into the orphanage he lived in to talk to the matron. Shigehiro had sneaked outside the window of the matron’s office to eavesdrop and there he had taken his first taste of fear. The man had yelled and threatened the matron and the words he had said had sent shivers of fear down Shigehiro’s back.

He hadn’t quite understood it back then, but the man _wanted_ something that the matron refused to give him. The man had smashed a vase with flowers the children had picked; he had yelled some more and then he had left.

A few months later, after he had just turned ten, Shigehiro had learned what true terror was. Locked in the arms of the matron as he fought and struggled to break free - to run into the burning house that was his home and save his friends. But he had known then - even while kicking and screaming - that there was nothing he could do. His home, the only home he’d ever known, was burning - _his friends were burning_ \- and the only reason he wasn’t burning as well was because he had sneaked down to help himself to a cookie. The matron had caught him red handed and she had led him outside for a lecture, as to not disturb the others.

He was supposed to be in there.

Shigehiro had put together the pieces later, much, much later. It was an all too common story. The man who had come and threatened the matron had wanted to buy the land the orphanage was built on. The matron had refused and the man had made true on his threats. It was as simple as that.

The matron had brought him to another orphanage and then left. He had never seen her again. Shortly after, he had left the orphanage on his own. It was not the same. It would never be the same again. He had been afraid many times after. Living on the streets as a ten year old kid had hardened him, but such things always come with a price.

Ogiwara Shigehiro knew what fear was, what terror was, how it felt to watch one’s world burn and crumble to ashes to the chorus of screams and screams and then _silence_. After that, he had thought nothing in this world could ever scare him again.

That was until he met Kuroko Tetsuya.

Darkness can be lit with light. A fire can be put out with water. Loneliness can be quelled with company. But there is nothing that can be done to stop Kuroko.

Kuroko is always strange when he comes back from a hunt. Shigehiro had pieced together over time what exactly he was up to when he left. Kuroko’s life is a stolen one. He drains life force from others and the void transforms it into energy. Or so is the gist of it. But a human’s life force is not meant to be transferred. He can only take a little from the people around him, and even if he drains years of their lives, to him it would only be a few days, maybe weeks.

It is a dirty form of immortality - magic vampirism. Sometimes, in the dark of the night, when Shigehiro’s fear catches up with him, he realizes that the line that separates the world from destruction is frighteningly thin. Kuroko is chasing a dream - a brittle, fragile dream - and no one can say what would happen if that dream failed.

He doesn’t sleep much during those nights.

 _So, why doesn’t he just randomly kill people?_ Shigehiro had asked. Sesha, who seemed so thin and fragile and yet held so much power in her hands, had looked at him with eyes that held the universe. _Don’t tell me, that’s what he does?_

Her smile had been sharpened by the shifting shapes in her eyes. _He could. Although, I might say, if he ever does, humanity might as well be doomed._ Her eyes had made it hard to discern if she was serious.

 _But for whatever reason, Tetsuya has decided to pick his kills, to go only after those that have done wrong. You may make of that whatever you will. Maybe his moral compass hasn’t abandoned him just yet. Maybe doing the right thing has nothing to do with moral at all. Or maybe he is merely following a path his memories have drawn for him. At the same time you may wonder why he still bothers to pay for what he could simply take. Kuroko Tetsuya is as much a mystery to me as he is to you. I can only infer from what I see in his past and what he tells me._ Sesha’s eyes had shifted and shifted in ever changing shapes. Shigehiro had wondered if time weavers could feel fear.

 _Then it’s a good thing, he hasn’t quite let go yet, isn’t it?_ His voice had sounded shaky and he had felt it too, deep in his heart. Kuroko hadn’t killed him when he could. When his life had meant nothing more to him than that of a fly. But he hadn’t; instead he had taken the hand Shigehiro had reached out in desperate hope. He had to believe that he would still reach him when it mattered the most.

 _It is_ , Sesha had said. She had smiled then, deep and mysterious with an eternity of possibilities dancing in her eyes.

There is a rather simple way to counter the strange state of mind Kuroko is in after he has come back from feasting on the lives of the depraved. Kuroko, Shigehiro had eventually figured out, is at his heart a very compassionate person. Or was. Shigehiro was not too sure about the current state. But some semblance of this must still remain. But whatever it is - the echo of his past maybe - it is nearly extinguished when he returns.

“Dinner is ready in five.” Shigehiro greets after sufficiently recovering from his almost heart attack caused by Kuroko suddenly appearing in front of him. Something in the hardness of Kuroko’s expression seems to break open at the warmness Shigehiro put into his voice.

Dinner has been ready for two hours now, but Kuroko doesn’t need to know that. It sounds much better like this and if domestic routine is what Kuroko needs to come back, Shigehiro will make damn sure it’s what he gets.

Maybe he should devote his sleepless nights to figuring out just when his life has become a sitcom “You can set the table.” Shigehiro says cheerfully and gets up from where he had lounged on the couch. Truth is, he hadn’t even expected Kuroko back today. It usually takes him longer to fulfill his routine.

He goes to one of his hangouts, picks up a job and then does whatever it is he needs to do to pretend he’s an actual human being and prepare whatever it is he needs to do to pick his targets. Shigehiro knows little of the details. He only knows Kuroko has a _reputation_. The _Shadow_ is a worldwide phenomenon, it’s mostly theorized that behind them stands an entire clan, or how else could they operate this wide spread and for over half a century now? There are countless legends and stories and none come even close to the truth.

It’s made even more complicated by the fact that Kuroko himself also has a reputation - the leaf collector is what they call him. Shigehiro supposes that makes him the sidekick.

Kuroko obediently goes to set the table. Shigehiro picks up the two bowls he’s prepared earlier today for whenever it was that Kuroko would return. He has already eaten and doesn’t quite feel like eating again, but his efforts would be pointless if he let Kuroko eat on his own. He shifts one of the small inlaid plates in the bowl’s body to disrupt the spell that had kept the food inside piping hot.

Shigehiro sets the bowls on the table. Kuroko takes his place opposite him. He still looks grim, but a bit of softness appears around his eyes when he sees the food. Kuroko doesn’t need to eat technically, and it has been kind of hard to figure out what he enjoys eating enough to actually eat when he is not hungry. Shigehiro has never been good at cooking, but he had to master quite the steep learning curve in order to provide something that actually tastes good.

Oddly enough, Kuroko had once told him that he didn’t like tofu soup, but he enjoyed eating it. Whatever the hell that meant.

“Thank you for the meal.” Kuroko says in what must be the most stilted and formal way possible. Shigehiro relaxes slightly.

“We can make milkshakes later.” Shigehiro says offhandedly. His words are rewarded with a noticeable lightening of Kuroko’s expression. Only then does Shigehiro allow himself a breath of relief.

_The matron abandons him soon after the fire. It is not her fault really; she lost just as much, if not more than Shigehiro. But he will not understand that until much later. Shigehiro is ten years old and he can’t be expected to understand everything. But he understands that there are things that can’t be replaced._

_He lives on the streets of Tokyo, just barely scraping by. A child still entices pity, even in a world that has long been abandoned by its Gods. He joins a ragtag gang of street kids, each with their own story. Everyone has a story on the street. And Shigehiro learns only on that not everyone wants to hear it. Life gets easier then. Not by much, but in this new life, small steps sometimes mean the world. They build a network, organizing themselves against the gangs of beggars and small time criminals that hold the districts in their chokehold._

_The years harden him, but he never quite loses his positivity. They may be a ragtag bunch, forced together by circumstance, but they are friends all the same. And the harsh circumstances only serve to weld them together even more._

_It’s small compared to his time in the orphanage, but Shigehiro finds some resemblance of happiness._

_They establish their own small territory and it’s around that time Shigehiro realizes he’s inadvertently become the leader of their group. Not because he is the oldest, which he isn’t or because he is the strongest, which he isn’t, but because his sunny disposition allows him to get along with everyone, even the stingy street vendors and bar owners, the prostitutes and the city maintenance crew and most importantly the many eyes of the city - the network of mages and seers that operate from the old_ Fortune Ramen _shop, the biggest coalescence of divination abilities in the whole of Japan._

_It is through his knowledge that he has come to lead his group. And once Shigehiro understands it is in his hands to protect his new family, he throws himself into his role with everything he has. They have little when it comes to actual fighting power, but with the information Shigehiro gathers, he buys them more than just a small space in the brutal underground of Tokyo. He buys them a future._

_His gang grows and Shigehiro has to invent a system of hierarchy, structuring his new underlings into a support network for his information gathering. At first he only deals with other street gangs, street rats like him, but his reputation grows and it doesn’t take long until the first yakuza walks through his door. The police soon follow._

_Shigehiro is barely eighteen, but already he deals with men who have killed and raped and done so much worse than that. He thinks of the fire that took his home - a fire he now knows served only one purpose - and realizes that this isn’t what he wants to do. He uses his network to dig up some information and visits the area of the orphanage that he once called home._

_On the land he grew up on stands now a luxurious spa hotel, catering to the rich and wealthy. The whole area has shaken the stench of lower middle class, absorbing the wealth that spills over from the nearby luxury quarters. Even outside on the street, Shigehiro can feel the potency of magic in the air. Everyone, even those with not even a whiff of talent, have the money to buy the spells they need._

_Shigehiro feels an old anger burn in his chest, but in the end he turns around and walks away. He meets with the core of his gang - those few that have been there from the beginning - and tells them of his decision. Some understand, some even want to follow his example, but most have taken a liking to their new lives. It is a hard life, but one that comes with many luxuries as well._

_They part as friends and Shigehiro wouldn’t have it any other way. They split the money they’ve earned and Shigehiro donates most of his share to a nearby orphanage._

_Disappearing is not as simple as he would like it to be, but Shigehiro knows this city better than anyone else. He uses the rest of his money to build himself a new life, nothing big, a small job in a bookstore and an even smaller apartment, in the outskirts of Tokyo. It may be sentimental, but he isn’t ready to leave the city that birthed him quite yet._

_Shigehiro lives in peace for two years until his old life comes crashing. One of his friends tracks him down - he supposes it’s a sign of how well he picked his successors that they were able to find him at all. Or maybe a part of him simply wanted to be found._

_But that was only the beginning of his troubles._

_Gunjou seems misplaced in his small living space. He wears a suit like he is the newest bigshot, but it’s obvious it hasn’t been tailored for him. Still, despite the new layer, Gunjou is still the same nervously smiling, amiable guy Shigehiro remembers. Maybe less nervous, but there is real warmth in his eyes when he sees Shigehiro._

_“Do I even want to know what you want?”_

_“Who says I want anything?” Gunjou runs a hand through his hair, upsetting the attempt at careful styling. He frowns when he gets dried gel all over his hand as a result. “Okay, you got me.” He admits._

_“I left the business.” Shigehiro reminds him. But there is a small part of him that can’t quite help but feel excited. His life has been peaceful and he likes that, but it is also boring. He can’t help but wish some of the action back into his life. But more than that, he misses his friends - the new family he never thought he would make. The realization had quite shocked him._

_“I know.” Gunjou throws up his arms. “I just wanted to show you something and get your input. We got our hands on this stone after the White Serpents blew a stint in our territory. We took it as collateral. It wasn’t meant to be anything big, because we’ve always been on good terms with the serpents.”_

_“Have we?”_

_Gunjou looks somewhat sheepish, “Well, we have been since you left. You know, Kyou- I mean Suukikyou married their boss’s daughter.”_

_Shigehiro feels a slight bite of annoyance. Not at Gunjou, but at the fact that he had no idea about what had been going on the last two years. He had thought of catching up on his old friends a few times, but resolved himself not to. He had wanted out and not getting involved was the best bet to stay that way._

_“Ah, you didn’t know.” Gunjou’s face falls but Shigehiro just waves him off. No point in dwelling on that now. “Okay so we figured we just take something small to make a point to the other gangs. Something that won’t be missed too badly, but doesn’t scream favoritism either. They had this ruby - at least we thought it was a ruby - and it was perfect. It’s fairly huge, but it’s just a ruby. Valuable for sure, but they can easily get another. So we take it and then they get all weird. Most of all, Kyou gets all weird. He joined their group kind of so he’s more into their business than we are. It’s just a ruby and they all act as though we demanded the boss’s balls on a platter or something. But the thing is, they didn’t act so openly. It was more like an undercurrent. But we make a living out of noticing these things, so of course we notice._

_“I think maybe the ruby is a keepsake or something but when pressed they all act as if it’s nothing. And we can’t really back down after claiming the stone, so we take it. And since we did, there’ve been three attempts at breaking into our HQ and two of our members have been attacked in the streets. I can’t be sure that it’s the serpents, but I’m pretty damn sold on it. This ruby is not just a ruby. But I have no clue what it is. I’ve tried_ FortuneRamen _, but they all flipped their shit as soon as I showed the stone. Kicked me out and told me not to show my face until I washed my hand off blood. Whatever that means.”_

_“That sounds…” To be honest, Shigehiro doesn’t quite know what it sounds like. Except like trouble. A lot of trouble. He says as much._

_“That’s what I said.” Gunjou smiles sheepishly. “But if it’s that important we can’t just throw it away. I mean, we owe the serpents at least that much.”_

_“Then why don’t you just give it back?”_

_“We would lose face.”_

_Shigehiro attempts to do the ‘raising one eyebrow thing’ but fails so he settles for making the most skeptical expression he can. “So?”_

_“You don’t understand.” Gunjou lifts his arm in a helpless shrug._

_Just how much had changed in the two years he was gone? Things like face or honor had never meant anything to them before. Shigehiro doesn’t say anything and Gunjou frowns unhappily._

_“So what would you have me do?” Shigehiro asks eventually._

_Gunjou’s relief is visible. It is a bit disconcerting to see, but they_ are _old friends. Shigehiro wonders just what he’s getting himself into._

_There is nothing special about the ruby at first glance. It is the size of his pinky finger’s last joint, which makes it a rather decent size for a gem stone. It is completely round, save for a small flat facet at the bottom. Shigehiro would have thought it was just a pretty red marble, if no one had told him. He has never seen a real ruby before, but those he has seen on pictures were always cut into multiple facets and pretty shapes._

_But there is one thing that stands out about the stone. If he holds it a certain way, catching the light just right, a sort of eye seems to appear in its center._

_“Did you show this to a jeweler?” Shigehiro asks._

_He is met with silence and when he looks up he finds Gunjou and two of the other gang members - new additions he doesn’t know the names of - seem embarrassed. Shigehiro fails at the eyebrow thing again but he manages to convey the emotion all the same, as Gunjou shrugs with a helpless smile._

_“We tried magic on it. You know reading spells. But we didn’t think of asking a professional.”_

_“Well,” Shigehiro has a hard time hiding his smugness, “then you know what to do.” He shakes his head. “I can’t believe you took it to FT but not a jeweler. Magic is all nice and well but sometimes the basics are where it’s at.”_

_Gunjou has the good graces to look sheepish._

_And that is really where it all starts going downhill. The jewelry belongs to an old man who has been affiliated with the yakuza since anyone can remember. He takes one look at the stone and scoffs._

_“Worthless crap,” is what he says. “It’s a forgery.”_

_It’s an explanation they have thought off as well, but ultimately decided against. It made some sense, but the stone does seem kind of special and no one wanted their adventure to end before it even had begun._

_Shigehiro would have accepted the man’s words. He has been known for his good work and absolute trustworthiness, and it is not totally unbelievable either. But then he picks up the stone and says with an air of forced casualness, “I’ll get rid of it. I can’t stand the idea of a fake on the market.”_

_He’s been out for two years, but Shigehiro can tell even then that something is fishy._

_“No thank you.” He says smoothly and picks the stone from the man’s hand. “It is still a pretty stone. If nothing else, we can use it as decoration.”_

_The note of alarm across the man’s face solidifies Shigehiro’s suspicions. But he schools his expression back into a professional mask almost immediately._

_“Please, I insist.” He reaches back for the stone, but Shigehiro slips it into his pocket. “I can’t stand the thought of a forgery being in circulation.” He tries one last time._

_“But we won’t circulate it. It would be unfair to sell a fake ruby. As I said, the stone is pretty and I would like to keep it.”_

_The mask on the man’s face slips again, and for a moment he snarls openly. Shigehiro keeps his pleasing smile. Eventually the man gives in. “Fine,” he says but it is obvious how reluctant he is._

_“Why did you keep the stone?” One of the newbies asks him once they’re outside. “It’s worthless.”_

_“It isn’t.” Gunjou replies before Shigehiro can. “is it?” He turns to Shigehiro, a questioning expression on his face._

_Shigehiro plays with the stone in his pocket. It feels oddly warm, like it has been lying in the sun for a while. “That’s what we are going to find out.”_

_Takao Midori frowns when she sees them. Her eyes linger on Gunjou for a moment, before she invites them inside. The old shop_ Fortune Ramen _used to be a restaurant, but its first owners had been what must have been the most powerful couple of seers to ever live. One was even rumored to have been a prophet. The other couldn’t see the future but truth - an immensely useful gift. As far as the story goes, the seer had resisted his calling, but eventually it had caught up with him all the same. After their deaths, the restaurant had been converted into a community center for seers of all kinds._

_Ramen, was still served sometimes, for old times’ sake._

_Midori is said to be a descendant of one of the original owners, but nothing had ever been confirmed. Her eyes certainly are an impressive asset, reminiscent of the late Takao Kazunari. She is a rather tall woman, with raven-black hair that is cropped around her ears. She wears a pair of glasses that only barely contain the intensity of her silver eyes._

_“I have said it to your friends, and I will say it to you too. This stone brings only trouble and you should get rid of it.” Midori says as soon as the door is closed. Inside, the old dining tables and chairs have made place for sofas, pillows and plush chairs. The air is heavy with incense. They are alone except for one passed out figure that’s sprawled on one of the sofas. Next to them, is a water pipe, the mouth piece still in the person’s hand._

_“Hello to you too, Midori. I am glad to see you are well.” Shigehiro says with a smile._

_There is the tiniest moment of warmth in her eyes, but it is quickly overruled by anger. “Cut the crap. You are here because of the stone, aren’t you?”_

_“Shouldn’t you already know that?” Gunjou asks._

_Midori rolls her eyes. “I do. But people tend to get_ upset _when I forego their part of the conversation. If this is what you would prefer however…”_

_“We just want to know what the stone really is?” Shigehiro says quickly._

_“Trouble.” Midori says shortly._

_“Oh come on.” Gunjou frowns. “Just tell us and we are out of your hair.”_

_Something in Midori’s eyes shifts then - a flash of pain. She levels Gunjou with a hard stare. “I’m afraid it is too late for that.”_

_“What do you-“_

_The prone figure on the sofa suddenly jolts up. The water pipe falls over with a resounding crash, spilling water and smoke all over the carpet. It’s a man, maybe in his late thirties with the biggest and bushiest beard Shigehiro has ever seen. He only gets a glimpse at his face and the plain panic written there, before he dashes through the kitchen door._

_Shigehiro is hit by the stray thought that this is in fact the first time he has seen the shop this empty._

_Before anyone can even react, the front door slams open. It is like a bad action movie and Shigehiro can only stand there and gape in shock as a group of five men file in, complete with sunglasses, suits and ostentatious white gloves._

_“This is neutral territory.” Midori says tightly, but she can’t quite hide the fear in her voice._

_The moment he sees them, Shigehiro’s mind is already running an analysis. They’re gang members, probably pale moon, judging by the signature white gloves. Their obvious leader is a small man with slicked black hair and a pressed perfectly tailored suit - top tier probably. His companions wear suits as well but their main quality seems to be their muscle._

_“Ah, yes.” The leader says. “Don’t worry; we are not here to cause trouble. We merely want to pick up what is ours.”_

_“The seeds of life belong to no one.” Midori’s voice shakes, but she tries to sound firm all the same._

_The man smiles. “Oh, but this one does. We paid for it. Don’t you think that entitles us to its ownership?”_

_“Does it matter what I say?”_

_“Of course not. But we do believe in politeness. Now, do you plan on being difficult? You are welcome to get involved, although I must advise you against it. We came prepared.”_

_Midori throws a glance towards the kitchen door. She stays silent for a moment before she finally lets out a heavy sigh. “Fine. Take your business outside. I want nothing to do with it.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest._

_“Thank you.” The sight of the man’s smile sends a shiver down Shigehiro’s spine. The stone - seed of life she had called it - feels almost heavy in his pocket. “Now, would you be so kind and follow us outside? We don’t want to upset the lady.”_

_“No way,” Gunjou says._

_“Leave.” Midori snaps. “Or I will remove you personally.”_

_“Mido-“ Shigehiro tries, but is cut off._

_“Go. I told you the stone is trouble. You weren’t listening. Now you have to face the consequences.”_

_“We didn’t know,” one of the newbies complains. “We still don’t.”_

_“I’m not leaving.” Gunjou declares. He walks to block Shigehiro from possibly walking out the door._

_“Don’t you-“ Midori rounds on Gunjou, but before she can release her anger, the well-spoken man interrupts her._

_“We do unfortunately not have the time for a lengthy discussion. You had your chance.” Midori whirls around, panic plain on her face and it is that sight, more than anything that saves his life. Shigehiro doesn’t think, before he moves. He throws himself to the side and onto the couch where the man had slept earlier, just as a magical concussion rips through the room. He doesn’t pause to look but rolls over the backrest and out of sight._

_A scream tears through the air only to be cut off abruptly. A moment later, the sofa explodes into a mess of torn fabric and feathers._

_He stares right into the wide open eyes of Midori’s severed head. Shigehiro feels bile rise in his throat. The room behind comes into focus and this time Shigehiro can’t hold back the retching. He empties out the contents of his stomach right on the blood and gore splattered floor. They are dead. All of them. Midori, Gunjou and the two newbies whose name he hadn’t bothered to remember. Blasted to pieces by magic._

_One of the men has pulled off his gloves. He has a sigil carved into the palm of his hand, which he now aims at Shigehiro._

_“I would hate to have to sift through all this mess to get the stone. Why don’t you just hand it over?” The small man says amiably. Shigehiro can’t move. His thoughts are stumbling over each other and the only thing that is clear is the deep, gut-wrenching terror he feels. A terror that eclipses even the feeling of fear he had when he watched his home burn down, when he heard his brothers and sisters scream and the horrible silence that followed._

_“A shame.” The man idly comments and waves his hand. Shigehiro’s heart seems to stop._

_And then Kuroko Tetsuya walks in._

_He doesn’t actually walk; he simply appears, sucking the void that had cloaked him back under his skin. But Shigehiro doesn’t know that back then. All he knows is that there is a sixth man all of a sudden - like a phantom - and what he sees on that man’s face chills him to the bone. He doesn’t quite look human. More like a marble statue created by someone who has never seen a living human in motion._

_Shigehiro sees the soft glow as the magic seal in the man’s palm activates. He doesn’t know why, but for some reason he opens his mouth to shout a warning, but it’s too late, the magic releases. And then nothing. It builds and then disappears._

_Black shadows lash out from Kuroko’s skin - the void as Shigehiro will learn much later - and in a matter of seconds all five of the men are dead. The golden light of their life essence has been absorbed by the shadows that live under Kuroko’s skin. The void has taken their lives to feed its master._

_He had been sure he would die a gruesome death, splattered all over the interior of the shop like his friends. Now he isn’t sure if that is even the worst thing that could happen to him. Someone who can kill five people who command some of the most powerful magic, can only be dangerous._

_“Please.” Shigehiro whimpers. He doesn’t know what he is asking for. A quick death maybe. Something in Kuroko’s eyes changes then, some of the void lifting, revealing a shadow of emotion. What it is Shigehiro can’t say._

_“Give me the stone.” Kuroko says and his voced is low, almost soft in its volume, but holds no emotion whatsoever. Shigehiro - scared beyond wits - obeys._

_Kuroko doesn’t leave afterwards. He just stands there; stone clenched in his hand and stares at Takao Midori’s severed head. Slowly, some of the emotion returns to his face but it still seems so much like a mask. He finally moves, slowly like he is carrying a large weight. He bends down and closes Midori’s wide eyes with his hand. His hand is shaking. Shigehiro feels like crying all of a sudden._

_It’s a whim, really - nothing that has been born from conscious thought - that has him ask, “who are you?”_

_And for one reason or another, Kuroko replies. “No one.”_

_Shigehiro, in a state beyond fear, stares at him and then at the carnage and then back at the sadness in Kuroko’s eyes - it’s there but a mere flicker - and he realizes that nothing in this world is as dangerous as this man. He’s heard bits and pieces of rumors - nothing more than a very faint whisper on the grapevine - of a man that commands the shadows. He is invisible, untouchable and dangerous._

_And that moment, fueled by emotions he can’t fathom, Shigehiro makes a decision. “Take me with you.”_

_Because Kuroko was not human when he walked through that door, but a soulless monster. If it’s humanity that needs to be standing between this man and the destruction that his power could unleash, Shigehiro thinks he’s as good as anyone._

_Up to this day he doesn’t know what had ridden him to ask. And he does know even less why Kuroko accepted._

_Of course, Shigehiro learns much later that it wasn’t him that pulled Kuroko back. He had just been a speck of dust back then - irrelevant. But Takao Midori had been a reminder of Kuroko’s past - a remnant of what was once his humanity. Her death had stirred memories of a life long past, of people that were once his friends._

_Her death had saved Shigehiro’s life._


	8. Shigehiro IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks again to [akai-anna](http://akai-anna.tumblr.com) for betaing this super-long chapter. Good luck in your exams <3

It is a lucky coincidence if Shigehiro has ever seen one. Leaves do cross quite frequently, all things considered. A few per month is not unusual. But depending on where they land, no one ever notices their presence. Shigehiro has grown quite adept at tracking down leaves, using the experience he gained as a teenager. There are certain occurrences that go along with a leaf’s transition. Spatial restricted temporal distortions being among the most notable. But even so, it is a stroke of luck that they locate one so soon after the last.

They track the leaf to one of New York’s many suburbs, where a dog has found it and brought it to his doghouse for safekeeping. Shigehiro is treated to what must be the most adorable sight ever, of Kuroko indulgently petting the canine with a smile that could almost be called blissful.

The leaf is young, so Shigehiro supposes there is no harm in a bit of delay. He doubts he could find the willpower to break up the two anyway. Not when Kuroko looks almost _happy_.

But eventually, they have to part with the dog, much to the canine’s chagrin. Kuroko is rather hesitant as well, throwing the animal wistful glances as they walk away.

“We could get you a dog, if you want to?” Shigehiro offers - because he doesn’t have it in his heart not to.

Kuroko tears his eyes away from the animal and there is a heavy set to his face that seems almost melancholic. “No,” he eventually says. “This is no life for a dog.”

“Well, I can’t really argue with that. But dogs are great, aren’t they?” There had been a dog at the orphanage. Well, it didn’t belong to the orphanage but one of the neighbors. He would let the kids take care of it when he was away, which happened quite a lot. It was the perfect arrangement. He got a bunch of eager and reliable dog sitters and the kids got a dog. He hadn’t thought of that memory in a long time. It brings a wave of sadness to his chest.

“Dogs are innocent.” Kuroko says softly, eyes drawn to something far away. “They accept without judgment. Even…” He shakes his head as if to clear it. “We better go. I would hate to waste a leaf.”

There is nothing Shigehiro could say to that so he doesn’t.

He holds on to the leaf while Kuroko relocates them through space. Kuroko once tried to absorb the leaf in his void, but apparently the temporal powers and his void didn’t mix well. Shigehiro isn’t quite sure what that means, but it certainly sounds bad.

This time Sesha’s dimension is anchored to a moss-covered boulder that overlooks an endless sea of grass. As usual, Shigehiro has no idea where they are.

Inside, they find the same room as always, but for the first time since Shigehiro has met her, Sesha is not waiting for them when they arrive. That is odd. He isn’t sure if this is reason to worry, but Kuroko’s face seems the same as always. Granted, that says very little.

The door to the side room is slightly ajar. And that is when Shigehiro decides something is very much not right. Sesha never leaves the door open. The time window in the side room creates a certain atmosphere that she wouldn’t want to spill into her main dwelling.

Kuroko as usual is rather unconcerned about caution and walks right inside. Shigehiro follows, slower and mindful of the faintly pulsing leaf in his pocket. Sesha sits on the ground, back against the wall. Her legs are stretched out and her arms rest limply at her side. Her dress is covered with dark stains of indefinable origin. She seems as though she is about to break.

“What happened?” Shigehiro blurts out before he can stop himself.

Sesha blinks and sluggishly turns her head to look at them. “You have terrible timing.” She says. Her voice sounds hoarse, overused. Her eyes, usually possessing of an otherworldly sharpness are dull and lifeless.

“That is quite unusual.” Kuroko says in his usual bored voice, but Shigehiro detects the tiniest hint of what might be worry.

“You don’t say.” Sesha’s words are followed by a brutal coughing fit that has her doubling over in pain. Shigehiro can see flecks of blood on her lips when the fit finally stops. She wipes them away with the back of her hand.

“I should be mad at you,” she says but there is no bite to it, only wariness. “You led them here. But then again, I _knew_ this was going to happen, one way or another. It is my own fault for deciding to help you.”

To his surprise, Kuroko steps forward and offers Sesha a hand. She eyes it for a moment, before shaking her head. A wry smile tugs at her lips. “This desperate to end it?”

Kuroko drops his hand, his face spells contrite. “I apologize. I forgot.”

“It happens.” She runs a hand through her hair. It’s always been rather messy but now it looks even more tangled and dull. Belatedly, Shigehiro remembers that he isn’t just a passive bystander. He takes Kuroko’s place in offering her a hand. This time she takes it. It barely takes any effort to pull her up, not because she stands from her own strength, but because she seems to be almost weightless.

“I need a breath of fresh air.” She mutters and stalks out into the main room.

Kuroko inspects the time window and Shigehiro hesitates to follow after Sesha. He has no idea what is going on. And that is usually not a good sign.

“Is everything alright?” It is not, but Shigehiro doesn’t really know how else to phrase it.

“Not quite.” Kuroko says. He reaches out a hand and touches the inky blackness. Violent ripples spread out from the point of contact and Kuroko yanks his hand back almost immediately. “I have never seen her like this.” He sounds, Shigehiro thinks with a pang of surprise, lost. He wonders just how much Kuroko needs to rely on Sesha’s hand to guide him - maybe far more than Shigehiro had assumed.

“Maybe she is simply tired.” Shigehiro says. They both know that’s not it. But Kuroko makes an acquiescing sound regardless, because Sesha has been an anchor for both of them. Shigehiro glances at the blackness, but it’s still only opaque black. The ripples have calmed. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least to his eyes.

Sesha has cleaned herself up in the meantime. She replaced her stained dress with a new one, dark blue for once. Her hair is less tangled and she absently combs her fingers through it. Some of the life has returned to her eyes, but the shapes are still static.

“There is a crack in the window.” Kuroko says after sitting down at the counter. Shigehiro follows suit after a moment. He’s not quite sure what Kuroko is referring to, but Sesha seems to understand.

Just in case, he pulls out the _Risalah Masa_ from his pocket and puts it on the countertop. He’d rather they not forget about it. Sesha swipes it off the table and throws it in an empty glass jar she pulls from under the counter. She then puts it on the top shelf, between piles of mirrors.

“A hole in the tapestry more like it.” She then says and sits down on her usual spot. “I’m afraid I can’t look at your leaf for a while. Just being near it gives me a headache.” There is no outward change in Kuroko’s expression, but something in his aura still changes.

Sesha sighs and rubs her eyes. “That is the least of our problems though.”

“What happened?” Kuroko’s voice is soft, too soft. The sound of it sends a chill down Shigehiro’s spine.

Sesha’s smile is jagged with sharp edges, but beneath it is a brittleness Shigehiro has never seen before. “You left a trail right to my doorstep. Someone came knocking.” She reaches inside her dress and pulls - Shigehiro has no idea where even from - a piece of broken mirror shard from inside. She hands it to Kuroko and he looks inside.

Shigehiro watches his expression, but other than a minute tightening around his mouth there is no change. “Schwarz.” He eventually says darkly.

“I knew it.” Shigehiro inadvertently slams his hand on the table. He garners confused looks from both Sesha and Kuroko. “Sorry.” He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Ignore this. Carry on.”

“You knew this was going to happen?” Sesha asks incredulously.

Shigehiro feels heat pool in his cheeks. He had completely missed how ambiguous his exclamation had sounded. “No, I just thought it would be funny, if Schwarz turned out to be a villain. You know Baron Schwarz is like the worst clichéd name I’ve ever heard.” He grimaces. “I guess it was funnier when it was just a joke in my head.”

Sesha eyes him with something that could very well be fondness. “Have I ever told you that I like the way you view the world Shige?” She says. Her eyes seem to glimmer and the shape in her left one seems to shudder as though trying to morph.

“Uh no, but thanks?”

“That aside,” Kuroko says gravely, “what did he want?”

“The same you do.”

“ _Nyama_.” Shigehiro says. “Okay, that was obvious after last time. But what did they want from you?”

Sesha just smiles that same sharp-edged smile from before.

“Oh shit.” Shigehiro says. “But how did he get a leaf? We just found one. And there was already another?”

“If only it were that simple.” Sesha says with a rueful smile. “Matters are quite different for Tetsuya than they are for everyone else. I am surprised you haven’ figured that out yet.”

Shigehiro blinks. “I didn’t think there was something to figure out. Kuroko is looking for _Nyama_ , he pays you with leaves to find them for him. Seems pretty straightforward to me. I guess there’s some more details, like the fact that you need the leaf to look for the specific future in which Kuroko obtains such a stone, but yeah. It does sound logical.”

“Has it never occurred to you that my powers might not be working on Kuroko?”

“Uh, what?” Shigehiro stares at Sesha and then at Kuroko, but neither offers an explanation. But now that he thinks about it…“Wait just a second.” He aims an accusing finger at Kuroko. “Are you telling me that Kuroko is actually immune to… whatever it is that you do? Like you can’t _see_ his future?”

“Exactly.”

Shigehiro feels like dramatically rolling off his chair and out the door, just to demonstrate how done he is right now. “Then _how_?” He drags out the o, hoping it conveys the approximately three million questions he has swirling through his head right now.

Sesha sighs. “I did not keep this from you on purpose. I just assumed it was obvious. When I realized that you had no idea, I felt it would be awkward for you if I corrected you. Besides, you were not entirely wrong. I do need a leaf to see Tetsuya’s future. Just for different reasons. It did not really matter if you knew or not.”

“But you told me you could read his past. How can you do that without a leaf when he is immune?” Shigehiro stabs the countertop with a very angry finger to underline his point. For a moment his anger makes him forget just how exhausted Sesha seems. But when she sighs again, the fact is driven right back home.

She rubs a hand over her eyes. “The past is static. Regardless of circumstances, it can’t be changed. I don’t know for sure, but I think that is why I can see it. Partially at least. Don’t forget that Tetsuya is unique. Someone like him has never existed before.”

“So what does the leaf do that you can see Kuroko’s future? And how did you know that it would work?”

“We didn’t.” Kuroko says. “Or rather, I presume Sesha-san did not know. In truth, I think she sent me to retrieve one that first time because she thought it would discourage me.”

“And here I thought I was subtle.” Sesha says, but it lacks her usual snark. “But you are right. I did not expect it to work. But for whatever reason, the leaf was able to bridge the gap.”

“So what about Schwarz then?”

“I looked into his future. Into every possible iteration of it. And he seems to be rather strong-willed.” Her smile is sharp. “He is a man that gets what he wants. I was able to fool him into believing I could see him retrieving only one stone. I doubt he will be satisfied with that.

“How long ago?” Kuroko asks.

Sesha shrugs. “Very recently. But it is hard to determine absolute values. Time is complex even on the most basic level of understanding. I have a different understanding and perception of time than you do. But I estimate between a few hours and an entire day.”

Shigehiro frowns. It doesn’t seem like that much time, but in a world as fast-paced as theirs, it might already be too much.

“Did they, by any chance, say what he wants with the stones?”

Sesha’s lips twitch faintly as though tempted by a smile. “He didn’t say per se, but I have my ways to see the truth. He wants immortality, plain and simple. There is, however, and I can only guess at it, something else hiding behind this obvious intention. I am afraid; he is quite adept at manipulating the threads, although I do not know how. His powers should not allow it.”

“That does sound bad.” Shigehiro says.

“I’m afraid it is. He is a man of immense mental fortitude. Theoretically it is possible to influence the future merely by one’s thoughts. The decision to do or not do something can change entire threads. That is not an easy feat however. The entire situation did put me at a disadvantage. My sight still hasn’t returned to normal.”

“They found you through us?” Kuroko asks quietly. Was that guilt Shigehiro heard in his voice?

“Incidentally.”

“I should have known.” Kuroko sounds forlorn. “But I didn’t want to see it. The resemblance was too close.”

“It is close, yes.” Sesha says. “But it is not the same. He’s not like Akashi.”

Kuroko sighs. He actually sighs. It seems like a huge load of tension just drained out of him with that small action. “I was hoping, but I couldn’t be sure. Part of me wanted it to be the same.” He smiles then, a real genuine smile, but there is no joy in that smile. Just sadness and regret and so much pain. Shigehiro feels his heart constrict with pain at the sight.

“In a way they are the same. But that is only superficially. Schwarz’s ability is biological transmutation. It is a power very much anchored in the physical world.” She must have caught Shigehiro’s confused face, because she continues, “It means he can rearrange molecules, atoms even. He can quite literally transmute lead to gold, merely by rearranging pieces that make up its atom.”

Shigehiro nods. He never went to school, so he isn’t quite sure if he understands. But any details he is missing now, he can always find out by himself. Sesha is already worn, he doesn’t want to burden her with more questions.

“In that way, Akashi’s powers must have been very similar. He could transmute lead as well I suspect.” She looks at Kuroko then, as though asking for confirmation, but Kuroko is staring at the countertop with an unreadable expression. “Except, Akashi could bend reality itself. It is a more abstract concept. I do not know how it worked specifically. But essentially, Schwarz’s ability is very much like Akashi’s.”

Something flickers in Kuroko’s eyes. “It isn’t. Akashi-kun could do much more, when-” He cuts himself off and shakes his head. “It does not matter.”

“Well, the important thing is that he can only influence matter. There are things that are even out of his reach. I suppose that does put Akashi a few leagues above him. Troublesome, but we can deal with that.”

“We?” Shigehiro is speaking before he can even form the conscious thought to do so.

“Yes,” Sesha says and meets his eyes on straight. “I never told you, and I guess Tetsuya never did either. But I didn’t use to move around as much as I do now.” She makes a hand gesture to indicate her sub dimension. “In fact, I was living rather luxuriously. But to get what we wanted, what Tetsuya wanted I would have to familiarize myself with his thread and his thread only. Reading anyone else’s future would dilute his. I knew what agreeing to help him would require. I made a promise and I do intend to keep it.”

“So why did you help them?”

A dark look crosses Sesha’s face. “Because for all my power, I am still only made of matter.”

“So what now?” They’re back in the sea of grass, after Sesha pretty much kicked them out so she could recuperate. There was an anger in her Shigehiro had never seen before. It is more than just the promise she had given to Kuroko. She wants to make Schwarz pay for the pain he put her through. Shigehiro can’t blame her. He has never seen her this weak and frail. Never once had he wondered if maybe Sesha was mortal after all.

“We will be going after the _Nyama._ ”Kuroko flexes his hand as though grasping for something. A moment later, a shock-gun appears in his hand. He hands it to Shigehiro.

“Seriously?” Shigehiro stares at the gun. It’s one of those clunky mechanical ones whose only magical component is the charge. It is a terribly old fashioned and heavy device but it fires a blast of pure magic. Magic, which is not made of matter. He wonders if it will matter, if Schwarz could just will the air around him into a shield.

“Seriously,” Kuroko confirms almost serenely.

“I have never aimed a gun.” Shigehiro says weakly. It’s already weighing him down just holding it. And even if Schwarz deserves it, he can’t exactly see himself shooting someone. That kills people.

“I would hate if something were to happen to Ogiwara-kun.” Kuroko says with earnest.

Shigehiro gapes. “Since when?” He blurts out without thinking.

Kuroko’s brows draw together slightly.”Ogiwara-kun has been a very dear friend for a long time. Surely, he knows that?”

Shigehiro opens his mouth but he can’t quite find the words. He looks down at the gun in his hand. It’s old and heavy and basically more trouble than worth it, but for whatever reason Kuroko thought of carrying it around with him to give to Shigehiro. Despite the infinite capacity of his void, Kuroko does not like clutter. Shigehiro swallows. There is something wet pricking at his eyes, but he blinks until the feeling disappears.

“Thank you.” He says hoarsely.

Kuroko’s smile is gentle, and somehow, looking at it hurts something deep in Shigehiro’s chest. He never thought Kuroko could look like this. “I’m afraid it will be of little protection. But if an emergency should arise, please don’t hesitate to fire.”

Shigehiro nods shakily. He clutches the gun’s handle tighter. He opens his mouth - so close to suggest he stay behind this time - but in the end he doesn’t. The look Kuroko gives him is not grateful, but something that comes very, very close.

And when Shigehiro takes Kuroko’s hand, it feels something very, very close to warm for the first time in a very long while.

The cold hits him like a slap in the face. They stand on top of a rocky slope that overlooks an equally rocky landscape filled with a few small lakes and a few tents huddled on the banks of the largest lake. There is a steel fence that partially surrounds the area, but is widely open on one side, away from the lakes and towards an endless stretch of open land. There are drifts of snow in the rock crevices and the air is so cold Shigehiro can see his breath dispend in smoky clouds.

Shigehiro slings his arms around himself, wishing already he could put down the heavy gun. Kuroko lets go of his hand and looks around. Shigehiro tries to hide behind him, but Kuroko is entirely too small to grant any protection from the merciless wind.

“Where are we?” He asks with chattering teeth.

“Greenland.”

“And you didn’t think of getting a change of clothes”? Shigehiro says sourly. He is wearing long pants and a shirt. He has put on the jacket he has always wrapped around his waist in case they end up somewhere cooler, but he did not expect to end up in Greenland.

“Oh.” Kuroko says and blinks at him.

Shigehiro starts jumping up and down on his feet to get some of the warmth back, but it is pretty much pointless. He shoves his free hand under his armpit, but its effect is much the same.

“I apologize.” Kuroko does look contrite, but that doesn’t exactly help Shigehiro.

“You don’t happen to have winter clothes packed in there?” There is no hurt in asking, is there? But his hope is soon defeated when Kuroko shakes his head.

“Okay, I’ll just freeze to death then.”

Kuroko draws his brows together for a moment, before reaching out and touching two fingers to Shigehiro’s arm. The sensation of cold vanishes as though it had never been there.

Shigehiro blinks. He inspects his hands, but he can’t make out any difference.

“What did you do?”

“I created a pocket of void around Ogiwara-kun.”

Shigehiro looks harder but still can’t see any difference. But it’s definitely there. He waves his hand and doesn’t feel any wind resistance. He feels the clothes on his skin and the texture of his gun’s handle, but nothing else. “How come I can still see?”

Kuroko’s lips twitch ever so faintly. “I left it open around Ogiwara-kun’s eyes and ears. It will mess with your spatial hearing as I had to include your auricles, but I would not risk Ogiwara-kun losing his ears to frostbite.”

“I’m not quite sure what Kuroko just said but thanks. This is quite amazing. Weird. But amazing. I didn’t know Kuroko could do that.” He’s right though. There’s something off with his hearing, but Shigehiro can’t quite figure out what. He pulls out his phone to find out what exactly ‘auricles’ are only to find that the void also cuts off his skin’s innate magical field from activating the screen. Maybe that’s why Kuroko never uses phones. Shigehiro sighs and puts his phone away. He had planned on finding out more about their location as well, but that’s out of the question now too.

“How did you ever make it through the digital age?” He asks drily.

“Pressure screens.” Kuroko says. “We should get going. I’m afraid we might already be too late.”

“What gives?” Shigehiro asks a while later. They’re making their way down the slopes, slowly approaching the tents and looking out for any signs of life.

“Instinct.” Kuroko says. He hops down the rather steep slope with enviable ease. Shigehiro has a much harder time, as he has to balance the heavy gun in one hand. Additionally, he has started to feel rather warm under his clothes.

“I don’t think I’m going to need this after all.” Shigehiro mutters when they finally reach even ground. He holds out the gun to Kuroko. Why is it so hot? Did Kuroko integrate a heater in his void shield?

Kuroko hesitates but takes it back and lets it be swallowed by tendrils of void. “If things get dangerous…”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll take it back at any signs of danger. I’d rather not experience whatever it was that Schwarz did to me last time again. I’ll clobber him over the head at least.”

“I assume he was trying to rearrange the molecular makeup of Ogiwara-kun’s body.”

“I really did not need to know that. But I guess it’s a good thing I’m such a complex character then."

The joke seems to fly right over Kuroko’s head, but Shigehiro didn’t really expect anything else.

They near the tents, but there is still no sign of life. From up close Shigehiro can see that the tents are sturdy built with a hard plastic covering and probably spell-protected against the cold and other stuff. This doesn’t look like adventure camping but more like research expedition, Shigehiro thinks.

“If you are going to say you have a bad feeling, I would like to second that. Shouldn’t there be people here?”

“They might be at the digging site.”

“Uh-huh.” Shigehiro pulls off his jacket and slings it back around his waist. He doesn’t feel any better. To distract himself, he thinks over Kuroko’s words. Kuroko has already set out again and Shigehiro quickly follows. “Let me guess, there is a ruby mine here somewhere?”

“Not exactly a mine. But ruby deposits have indeed been found under the receding ice.”

“Isn’t that weird? I mean _Nyama_ look like rubies alright, but why would they show up near all these mines? It’s not that they are the same thing, isn’t it?”

“Arguably, rubies are the earth’s life blood. At least this is a belief that can be found in many cultures. The red color being reminiscent of blood, as well as their rarity. It is possible that this belief stems from the observation of _Nyama_ before humans understood magic. Maybe _Nyama_ do not appear near ruby deposits, but rubies appear near _Nyama_ s. Although the molecular properties of rubies contradict that assumption. We simply don’t know.”

They have reached the first row of tents and Kuroko falls silent. They reach the front of one of the tents and Shigehiro peeks inside through one of the windows in the door. Inside, he sees what could be a laboratory of sorts, with microscopes and other machines he can’t name. It is also empty.

A few small rocks lie scattered on the tables; Shigehiro can glimpse traces of red where a ruby deposit may have branched off. But there is no _Nyama_ in sight.

He steps back only to find Kuroko has abandoned him in favor of one of the other tents. Shigehiro jogs after him to catch up. It’s a short distance, but even so it leaves him panting for air. It’s too hot and it feels like it’s only getting hotter. He’s sweating profusely and that is really not how it’s supposed to be.

Kuroko has his head tilted as though he is listening and after Shigehiro finally manages to calm down his breath, he can hear it too. From inside the tent - the one closest to the water front - come muffled voices. They seem to be male as far as Shigehiro can tell.

Shigehiro strains his ears, but he only catches a few scattered sentence fractions.

“… told you… mistake. Now… should… do?”

“…matter…star stone…enough.”

“…killed…stop now?”

“…not… another… stone.”

The words make little sense to Shigehiro. Kuroko’s expression is smooth as always and gives nothing away. Shigehiro leans against the tent wall and tugs at the collar of his shirt. The heat just won’t stop. There is a faint buzz in his ears, overriding the voices from inside.

“What else are we supposed to do?” The sudden shout startles Shigehiro and he almost stumbles backwards. Kuroko presses his hand against the door. Hesitates.

“How am I supposed to know? You think I have a backup plan for a situation like this? It was supposed to be quick and simple. It was supposed to give us _answers_. And now Roos is dead and-“ The voice cuts off abruptly and it takes Shigehiro a moment to realize that Kuroko has opened the tent’s door.

Shigehiro stumbles in behind Kuroko who strides over to where two men are standing in front of an office desk laden with papers and folders. In the chair behind the desk sits a woman, slumped and with wide, lifeless eyes. There are no outward marks but she is vey obviously dead.

“Who are you?” One of the men, wearing a utilitarian coverall with runes stitched into the fabric, asks. He has blond hair that seems to have once been parted neatly in the middle, but is now a mess of unkempt strands. The other man, wearing normal pants and a shirt reaches for a rifle that leans against the desk. His hair is darker and trimmed almost military short.

A tendril of void lashes out from Kuroko’s skin and swallows the rifle before the man can touch it. He startles back with a curse.

“Please, don’t be alarmed.” Kuroko says serenely.

Shigehiro flops down on one of the chairs that stand around scattered, fanning himself to little avail. Something is wrong, but he can’t quite tell what.

“What do you want?” The coverall guy says, aggression bleeding from his posture.

His companion has gone pale and is leaning back against the desk. “The blood stone is already gone.” He says limply.

“Shut up, Lind.” The guy in the coverall snaps.

“What’s the point?” Lind snaps back. “It’s gone and I sure as hell won’t make another one. I’d rather keep my life, thank you very much.”

“I wish not to take anyone’s life. I merely wish to make some inquiries.” Kuroko says calmly. Shigehiro has a feeling that he isn’t as calm as he pretends to be, but he’s too hot to be bothered to find details.

“So you say.” The coverall guy says and eyes Kuroko with barely contained contempt.

“Bruun, let’s just listen to what they want.” Lind says tiredly. He throws a glance at the dead woman behind the desk. “I doubt it can get any worse from here.”

Bruun glares, but eventually sighs and nods. “Alright. What do you want?”

“What is that stone you are talking about?”

Bruun sends another glare at Lind and crosses his arms. He doesn’t seem about to answer so Lind steps in, “I’ll tell you. But I would like to move somewhere else.” His eyes dart back to Roos and he shakes his head. “We were friends and it pains me to see her like that.”

“Oh yeah, let’s go outside.” Shigehiro wheezes. “I’m dying in here.” Maybe it won’t be as bad outside. Shigehiro can only hope so.

“What is wrong with him?” Lind asks. There is real concern in his voice. “Why is he dressed like that? It’s freezing outside.” He frowns. “Where is your runic protection?”

“We came here on rather short notice.” Kuroko says, outwardly unaffected. But he’s stepped closer, hovering and very obviously unsure of what to do. “I put a spell on him to preserve… oh.” Kuroko blinks. Shigehiro thinks he sees guilt but he isn’t sure. Everything is swimming in front of his eyes and he thinks he’s about to pass out.

“He looks like he’s about to get heatstroke.” Bruun mutters, not sounding concerned at all. Well, why would he? They are in Greenland. No one gets heatstroke in Greenland.

“I apologize Ogiwara-kun.” Kuroko’s voice is faint, as if speaking from far away. He touches a hand to Shigehiro’s shoulder. Shigehiro stares at his face, as well as he can when it seems to be swimming in and out of focus.

“What…?”

“We should get you outside.” He turns around. “Relocating is a good idea, yes.”

Lind sighs. “Come on then. I’ll help your friend.” Lind wraps an arm around Shigehiro’s shoulder and pulls him up. He already feels slightly better, the heat seemed to have dispersed some but he’s still unsteady on his feet.

The cold outside is refreshing and Shigehiro takes deep breaths. He feels significantly better already.

“Over here.” Lind leads them to another tent. There is a red cross painted next to the door and inside they find a few cots and another desk. Not for the first time Shigehiro thinks this base has been built for far more than just three people.

Lind helps him to lay down on one of the cots. Shigehiro lets out a sigh of relief. The short shock of cold has done much to make him feel better. Kuroko hands him a glass of water and Shigehiro drinks it gratefully. He feels kind of gross, covered in all that sweat, but there is little he can do about that at the moment.

“What was that?” He groans after a moment.

“I blocked off Ogiwara-kun’s body’s temperature from both ways unfortunately. The body heat created by your body could no longer escape and kept building up. In compensation your body increased circulation and sweating in an effort to lower the core temperature, but that only exacerbated the issue.”

“Okay. Whatever Kuroko says.” Shigehiro rubs his eyes. “How come you don’t die of heatstroke?”

“My bodily functions have been altered significantly from their original state. To put it simply.”

“I see. Does that mean Kuroko owes me one now? You know, for almost killing me?”

“I already owe Ogiwara-kun.” Kuroko says. He doesn’t sound any different than most other times he speaks, but they have enough history between them to know what he truly means.

Lind clears his throat and the moment scatters. Kuroko pulls back and turns to face the two men. Lind is sitting on one of the other cots, while Bruun stands near the entrance, arms crossed and clearly unhappy with the situation.

Shigehiro pulls the blanket off the cot and wraps it around his legs loosely. The sweat is beginning to cool and it really isn’t all that warm inside. But it’s much better than slowly cooking in a cocoon of void.

“What happened?” Kuroko asks.

“I best start at the beginning I think.” Lind rubs his temple. “Mind if I prepare some tea? I could need it.”

“Go ahead.” Kuroko invites.

“Could I have one too?” Shigehiro asks. “I feel parched.”

Lind shrugs, “sure.” He walks over to a table on the side on which a kettle has been placed. He checks its contents before flicking it on with a tap of his finger. He turns around to lean against the table while the water cooks.

“I am a geologist and very much interested in the earth crust and what it can tell me about the earth’s history. Some years back ruby deposits were found in Greenland. This is one of the places and as you can see we were quick to establish a base here. It was mostly fueled by economic interests as you can imagine, but I came here to find out more about the rock’s history.

“Mining went well and it seemed that the deposits were far from being exhausted anytime soon. It’s still a lot of work though; because we can’t use magic otherwise we would distort the crystal’s innate storage capacities. But you always find folks eager to speed up the process by all means. This is part mining and part research operation so we got all kinds of people here.”

Behind him, the kettle has started steaming, letting out a high pitched noise. Lind turns around and flicks it off. He pulls out two small quadratic sheets of paper and puts them on the table. He picks up a pen and scribbles something on one of the sheets. “Sugar?” he asks over his shoulder.

“No, thanks.”

“Sorry, we only have green tea.” He picks up the kettle and pours water directly on top of the paper. The runes inscribed on the paper start glowing and a moment later in their stead, two cups of steaming hot tea stand on the table. He hands one cup to Shigehiro, who eagerly takes it. He’s heard of this technique before, but never seen it in action.

Lind takes a sip from his own tea. “So we got these magical enhanced machines to dig even deeper to dig out the whole deposits in one go and before we know it, we’ve breached an underground water reservoir and that’s basically the story of Lake Town out there. But that’s not all we found. There’s this one crystal, huge, like a fist at least. And it’s perfectly smooth and clear, like you would expect a diamond, only it’s not a diamond or anything I’ve ever seen.”

Kuroko has gone tense, only noticeable to Shigehiro because he knows him so well. “It wasn’t red?” He asks carefully.

“No. But I guess since you ask you know what’s coming next. Well, we got this huge crystal that defies everything we know about atoms and basic crystal structure and then Roos has this idea.” Bruun makes a disgruntled noise but doesn’t interrupt. “I must have been mad to listen to her. But truth is, I haven’t gotten as much data as I would have liked to. And with no data it’s hard to get funding.” He shrugs and puts down his cup. “So she drags in this specialist guy who apparently knows everything about these stones.”

“Where is he?” Kuroko cuts in, before Lind can continue.

“Dead.” It’s Bruun that answers this time. “Like everyone else. A fucking shame really. All this for nothing.”

“You are one ball of sunshine.” Shigehiro says dryly. Bruun glares at him. Shigehiro opts to ignore him and finally give his tea a taste. Lind may have a heat-proof tongue, but Shigehiro can’t say the same about himself. It’s surprisingly good.

Kuroko tilts his head to prompt Lind to continue.

“Right. So the stone apparently is a star stone and as far as the lore goes, although that’s apparently mostly wild guesses for all I know, they’re crystallized stars. It doesn’t make any sense, but we are far from understanding everything about magic so maybe it’s the truth after all. But that wasn’t even the point. You can imagine how thrilled I was upon discovering this literal gem. But according to the specialist this isn’t even the stone’s true form. To convert the stone and lay open its secret, blood is needed. A lot of blood.”

“I suppose that is why everyone is dead?” Kuroko inquires.

“Pretty much.” Lind looks pained. “I don’t know what I was thinking. But Roos was a very good seller, always was. She’s basically responsible for getting us permission from the Danish government to build this here in the first place. And she got funding for the research as well. Nowadays it’s nearly impossible to get funding for anything that isn’t related to magic or alchemy. But I suppose there’s always been something here she wanted.

“So Roos convinced us to awaken the stone to its true form. And I was eager.” He throws a glance at Bruun. “We all were. So when Roos suggested to involve one of the miners in an ‘accident’ we didn’t object. He was an asshole and no one liked him. And it was for the greater good.” Lind shrugged. “I had a whole load of reasons piled up to let me sleep at night. But one death wasn’t enough. We bathed the stone in his blood but it barely changed. Then things got crazy. Roos’ specialist is panicking, saying that it’s not enough and we need to give more to the stone instantly or all will be in vain. And we all get up like crazy, like something has infected us and I am dragging my colleague and friend whom I worked with for years out of his bed and he’s kicking and screaming and the next thing I know is, I cut his throat over the stone.” He falls silent.

“The stone was calling.” Bruun says. There is a conflicted expression on his face. He still seems angry but when he looks at Lind there is pity too. “It was clear for me. I had to give it what it wanted and so I did. I guess Lind had some more moral objections but in the end he obeyed all the same.”

“That’s fucked up.” Shigehiro says. And that is putting it mildly. He can’t really define how he feels about this. He’s gotten rather used to carnage and death hanging around Kuroko, although he does his best to do damage control. But things like this shouldn’t become the norm. Ever. Still, with all that he knows about _Nyama_ this doesn’t feel as surprising as it should be. Stones that hold the power of life. That power must have come from somewhere.

But on the other hand, Shigehiro can’t quite believe it so readily. Sesha - who should know _of all people_ \- had told them she didn’t know where _Nyama_ came from. And yet here they are, learning about it from a mere human. Shigehiro feels a lot of things right now and he isn’t sure what to focus on.

“You don’t say.” Bruun snarls. “But it was supposed to pay off. The stone was supposed to change _everything_.”

“You mean your bank account?” Shigehiro snaps. “Or are you telling me you were doing it for the good of humanity as well.” Lind flinches but doesn’t rebuke the accusation.

Bruun sneers. “What do you know?” The blood stone could have held the secrets of the universe. It could have meant _eternal life.”_

“Yeah, about that,” Shigehiro says icily, “You’ll need a lot more than just one stone to achieve that. And from what I’ve heard, immortality isn’t that great either.”

“Where is it now?” Kuroko cuts in before the argument can get out of hand.

“Gone. As I said it was chaos and by the time everything was over and done we had a shit ton of dead people and a blood stone. I don’t know how, but in the carnage the specialist had also been killed. I assume Roos had to do with that. She’s the kind to clean up loose ends. But we three were still there and so we realized we had to figure out what to do. We decided to bury the corpses and all the evidence and hide the stone in the lake until we knew what to do. Roos was weird. She refused me to do any experiments on the stone although that was what I had originally intended. She said we needed to sell it as soon as possible.

“That’s what she’s been trying to do the last days. Get a buyer. I was starting to regret the whole thing and Bruun, well Bruun just got impatient. And then, just a few hours ago, these people showed up. They knew exactly what had happened and wanted the stone. But they didn’t know where we had hid the stone. He called it a tear though. It was crazy. There was this man, their leader I think, knew all these things about us, but not where the stone was; here right before his eyes. Roos was all smug about that. I guess there’s something up with those lakes, the water has always tasted rather strange but it’s not that it matters now.

“Their leader wanted the stone, so he killed Roos. I’ve never seen something like that before. He just touched her and then she started screaming as though she was in intense pain. But there was nothing wrong with her. And then she died. Like that. He came for me next so I did the smart thing. I told him where we hid the stone. I thought they were going to kill us anyway, but they just went to retrieve the stone and then left. That’s when you came around.” Lind finishes with a sigh. He seems tired now, as though he has walked for a very long time.

“And we still don’t know what you want.” Bruun says with a hint of threat. “The stone is gone, so you should go too. There is nothing else here.”

“Let it go, Bruun.” Lind says tiredly, but Bruun ignores him.

“I hope you don’t think of calling the authorities on us? There’s no evidence and I will not hesitate to use force to make sure it stays that way.”

Kuroko seems to awake from a slumber. He blinks and then focuses on Bruun. “Do not worry. I have no interest in you. I was merely interested in your story.” He turns to Lind. “Do you by chance know where the men went?”

Lind shakes his head. “They didn’t say anything. But I guess it’s a safe bet that they left Greenland. They weren’t dressed for the cold. It’s rather tragic really, if you think about it. If any place would be perfect to hold a secret it’s this close to the damn freezing North Pole and yet here we are, getting two visits in just about as many hours. I guess you came for the stone as well. Sorry that we lost it. I would ask you not to kill us, but I really don’t care anymore.”

Lind shakes his head. “I killed my best friend with my own hands. There is nothing left for me. I might as well make up for it with my life.”

Kuroko freezes. It’s rather odd, since he always holds very still, but even so Shigehiro can see how he stops even the last bit of motion. He just stands there, staring at an empty spot right behind Lind like there is actually something there.

There is a flitter of emotions across his face, too many and too fast to distinguish. It lasts for only a moment and then another expression settles on Kuroko’s face. One that Shigehiro has seen only once so far.

Dread settles heavy in his stomach. The last time he saw this expression, Kuroko had killed five people in the space of seconds like it was nothing. It had been a precarious situation then, fueled by what might have been anger. But even his anger is merely superficial and it doesn’t reach to Kuroko’s heart. What it means, Shigehiro can’t say, only that there is little that can stop it. But unlike last time, there is no reason for it now, at least none that Shigehiro can discern. And that scares him.

Kuroko’s face seems like it is chipped from stone. There is not even the hint of an expression, not even coldness. Void ripples over Kuroko’s body, like a shadowy second skin.

He turns around and the void curls out towards Lind, slow still, almost playful but dangerous all the same.

Shigehiro panics. He jumps up and in front of Kuroko, bracing his hands on his shoulders. Void rises under his hands, its touch leaving a feeling that has now words to describe it.

“Leave.” Shigehiro snaps over his shoulder and plants his feet. Physically, he is stronger than Kuroko, but if he unleashes his void they are all done for. There are sounds behind him, shuffling and clanging of metal, but it’s all not fast enough.

Shigehiro panics and out comes the first thing in his mind, “No, stop it. Bad Kuroko. Bad, bad Kuroko.”

He can’t say who is more startled. Shigehiro himself or Kuroko, who blinks up at him owlishly. But the void slowly calms, receding back under Kuroko’s skin.

“I am not a dog, Ogiwara-kun.” He says quietly.

“Oh, thank fuck.” Shigehiro lets his hands fall down to his side. Kuroko tilts his head. “You don’t kill people when you bother to be polite.” The relief hits him with surprising force then and only now Shigehiro realizes how close he had come to being killed. His hands feel numb where they had been sucked into the void. Kuroko could have easily absorbed them for good. He flops back down on the cot, feeling suddenly very weak in the legs.

Kuroko eyes him.“I hadn’t realized there to be a correlation.”

“Yeah well, Kuroko tends to get rather blunt when in the mood. I mean blunter than usual and without all the polite speech. Seriously though, it’s creepy how much the void messes with Kuroko. It’s like it sucks all the emotion out of you.”

Something flickers in Kuroko’s eyes. An expression Shigehiro has never seen there before. “I’m afraid the void demands a rather hefty price.” Kuroko sounds blank, like he has no connection to what he is saying. “I find myself not caring more often than not. It is difficult to battle such inclination if I can’t summon the will to care about the problem in the first place.”

 _But you do care_ , Shigehiro wants to say. _Even if it is only one thing, it is what keeps you going._ But he doesn’t. And even though the question burns on his tongue, he doesn’t ask why Kuroko lost control either. He knows the answer is one he should be afraid of.

“Did you know about this?” There is an edge of anger in Kuroko’s voice, muted like so many other things, but standing out all the same against his impassive voice. They’ve just returned from Greenland and the first thing Kuroko did was accost Sesha. Shigehiro himself is still quite shaken from their expedition. First the almost heat shock, then the revelation about _Nyama_ and finally Kuroko’s unprompted switch.

Sesha still looks weary, and the shapes in her eyes shift sluggishly. “I am not quite sure what you are referring to, but chance is that yes I did.”

Kuroko exhales. Void coils restlessly from under his skin, like tiny waving tentacles.

“How about you tell me what happened? I am too exhausted still to go check your thread myself.”

And Kuroko does. Sesha listens with focused interest but doesn’t seem surprised at all.

“So you did know.” Shigehiro says when Sesha remains silent upon the closure of Kuroko’s report. He is not quite sure how to feel about that.

“I did.” Sesha says solemnly.

“You said you didn’t know where _Nyama_ came from.” Shigehiro says somewhat helplessly. Kuroko has fallen quiet and he can’t say what goes on in his head.

“I don’t. No one knows where the star stones originated from. Or what they are for that matter. I merely know how the transition works.”

“Why didn’t you _tell_ us?”

Sesha levels her eyes on him. The shapes twist and move restlessly, no trace left of the prior sluggishness. “Not all _Nyama_ are born from blood. _Nyama_ itself are drops of blood fallen from the sky, if you believe the teachings of the Dogon. A pomegranate seed would have come from a tree, but depending on how you ask a pomegranate is a fruit of death rather than life. And Astarte’s tears suggest a goddess wept tears of blood. A _Nyama_ holds the power of life - life is held by more than just blood. Everything around us is imbued with _life_ \- tiny drops of it. And then you have a stone that comes from the sky - which is to say space - and it _craves_ life for space is vast and empty.

“But really it isn’t. So where do these stones come from that they hunger so strongly for the essence of life? And what powers lay in this stone that it drives _life_ around it to feed it?”

“Are you saying the stones _want_ to be changed?”

“It seems that way. I can’t say why or even how. But if I had to guess…” She shakes her head. “It does not matter. A star stone’s power is locked and unreachable.”

Shigehiro runs a hand through his hair. He has seen the pile of stones Kuroko has assembled. None of them were as big as the one Lind described. But. How many lives had paid for these stones?

Kuroko has yet to say a thing.

“But why blood? You said it yourself, everything is imbued with life. So why does it have to be blood?”

“It is the easiest source. There are billions of humans alone - humans so vibrant and full of promise. They are so easily influenced as well. But not all _Nyama_ are born from blood. It is rare but it happens. Sometimes a stone is undisrupted for long enough that it feeds from its surroundings. I imagine it takes quite a while.”

“So just by picking up the stones we did, we might have inadvertently killed a lot of people?”

“Don’t think like that.” Sesha says softly. “The stones seek out their awakening. It is in their nature. Blood may have paid for their powers, but it is out of your hands. Besides, a lot of the transitions have happened years in the past.”

“I just don’t get why.”

“And that is life.”

“I can’t just accept that.”

“No, you can’t. And that is why you are human.”

Shigehiro has nothing to say to that. He’s still not sure what to feel about the revelation, about _everything_ that has happened recently. But at least now he knows where to start.

Sesha’s smile is gentle, despite the tired lines around her eyes. “There are some things you simply can’t change.” Her eyes flicker to Kuroko for a split second, before returning to Shigehiro. “Knowing that is not easy. Accepting it even less.”

“I would have appreciated if Sesha-san had told me before.” Kuroko eventually says. His anger has gone completely. Now he seems only tired.

Sesha regards him for a moment. “Would it have made a difference?” She asks softly.

Kuroko meets her gaze. He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, but when he does his answer is a surprise to no one. “No, it wouldn’t.”


	9. Tetsuya V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone!

The Wakasu Seaside Park was located in the very Southeast of Tokyo on a small island connected by a bridge to the mainland. It had been three days since Tetsuya’s conversation with Azuki. Three days since he almost got crushed by a fist of water.

Tetsuya had mostly recovered from the injuries, although his side was still covered with ugly yellow blotches. The pain had subsided enough though to allow him to move mostly uninhibited. He would just have to make sure that he didn’t strain his side too much. Avoiding any more impacts in the near future would also largely help.

He parked the car outside the golf resort at the North end of the island. There was a road running along the length of the island, but no parking spaces, except for the industrial area on the West side. A small road led along the Western shoreline, through the park and towards the South point of the island.

It was a cloudy day, April weather at its best and there were only a few people on the golf course. Together, he and Akashi made their way along the road. It was windy and Tetsuya was glad he had brought his coat with him. He had narrowly dodged a cold after his stint with the water mage; he’d rather prefer to let it stay that way.

“Did Azuki share where exactly we could find the dwelling of this cult?” Akashi asked after they had been strolling along the shore side road. Tetsuya had hoped to find a clue, anything that would hint at the cultist’s hidden dwelling, but so far no luck.

“Unfortunately, he did not.” Tetsuya replied. “Unless you consider the fact that it is supposedly hidden from human eyes a hint.”

“It may be a hint but a rather unhelpful one.” Akashi said with a slither of amusement coloring his voice.

“I was hoping that we would find a clue regardless. It is, unfortunately, our only clue as of the moment.”

Akashi raised an eyebrow at that. “That is a rather succulent plan.”

“Yes, well. I am doing what I can under these circumstances.”

“And what circumstances would that be?”

“Akashi-kun should be very much aware of the circumstances.” Kuroko said drily.

“I am aware. But I do not know the circumstances under which Kuroko normally operates. These circumstances are largely owed to the fact that Kuroko is on his own.”

“Am I?” Kuroko turned halfway to look at Akashi. “On my own?”

Akashi’s expression was amused, but there was something slightly forced to it. “Strictly speaking, yes. I am merely an accessory.”

“That may be the case, but even an accessory can be useful.” Tetsuya said. He was watching Akashi’s face for a response, but none came.

“That holds a grain of truth as well.” Akashi said almost to himself.

Tetsuya still could not make much sense of Akashi. He had made true on his words and treated Tetsuya normally, despite his injuries. But there were small gestures, a refill of the salve when it was empty, tableware finding its way on the counter before Tetsuya could make the effort to try and get it from his cabinets. Some part of Akashi - as small as it was - seemed to be very caring.

Tetsuya had not addressed the issue. They had talked a lot, about the case, about their interests. But nothing personal. He had itched to ask, but Tetsuya knew better than to pry into matters that were none of his business. And they had spent even more time in quiet peace, reading and sometimes these occasions had broken up into discussions about one of their books or an author. Those were the conversations, Tetsuya had enjoyed the most.

Akashi was intelligent, well-spoken and his opinions were clear-cut and widely spread. Likewise, Tetsuya had been afforded an opportunity to discuss matters that were usually ignored among his circle of friends.

Most of the times, it was all too easy to forget they were not supposed to be friends.

Akashi paused and leaned over the low concrete fence that separated the road from the sea. The wind tousled his hair and the spray of salt and water tossed up by the agitated sea seemed to cast him in a strange halo. Tetsuya could not tear his eyes away.

He remembered a certain memory then. He had visited the museum of historic arts, showcasing a special exhibition of nature-related paintings. He had gone through the regular exhibition first, seeing for himself how much art had changed over time. He loved art, loved to immerse himself in the feelings that transcended through pen and paper. But nothing had struck him as much as the paintings in that exhibition. They were mirrors of what their creator’s had seen at that time - landscapes, sea sides, glimpses of nature and life itself.

He had stood before Van Gogh’s Starry Night and stared at the image and his thoughts had failed him. Even in his head, he could not wrap into words what he felt that moment. It was like looking up at an endless stretch of night sky himself - only it was so much more than that. It was like a veil had been lifted and for the first time, Tetsuya had caught a glimpse of what lay beyond. it must be true, he had thought then, that Van Gogh had possessed an ability, one that allowed him to see more than just light reflections.

Now, staring at Akashi’s profile against the windswept sea, he wondered what Van Gogh would have seen there. How he would have caught that intricate beauty and grace on his canvas, paint stroke by paint stroke.

A ray of sunlight cut through the overhanging clouds. It caught on the bright color of Akashi’s hair, the slope of his shoulders down to his arms. A bittersweet feeling swelled in Tetsuya’s chest at its sight. As though this was how it was always meant to be. Akashi, bathed in light and out of reach, while Tetsuya was confined to the shadows.

“None of us are ever truly alone.” Akashi said after what seemed an eternity. “Not in a world where magic gives life to our fears.” His face didn’t change, but Tetsuya had a sudden feeling that Akashi was talking about himself.

Tetsuya didn’t know what to say. There was nothing he could say without getting too involved. Without touching on something he had no right on even reaching for.

Akashi continued to stare out at the waves. A ship sailed past in the distance. Small, almost lost on the vast blue of the sea. Tetsuya watched it until it disappeared behind an outcrop of land, undoubtedly heading for the safety of the harbor.

“What does Akashi-kun see?” Tetsuya eventually asked. He felt stupid for it, the moment the words had left his mouth.

“Reality.” Akashi said. “Without the polished shine of conditioned perception. Without the sweet filters of ignorance out brains supplies” He smiled, but it was a sharp smile, sculpted with shattered glass. “It would be more accurate to say I glimpse it. I see Kuroko’s fear from the corner of my eyes, but if I look at you directly all I see is a slippery mask of glass.” He shifted then, raising one hand to his face but halted at the last moment. “It is a rather volatile power.” Akashi dropped his hand. “There are things I’d rather not see.”

Tetsuya felt an odd sense of melancholy well in his chest. The clouds had moved on and Akashi was once against cast in the half-shade of an overcast sky. “I am not afraid.” Tetsuya said solemnly. “Not yet.”

“No”, Akashi said slowly, “you are not. How odd it is not to be aware of the fear that lives in you. Some part of you must remember. It remembers and it fears.”

“Remember what?” Tetsuya felt strung along on a string. He could not say where they were going; just that he couldn’t stop following the tug of Akashi’s tempting words.

Akashi was quiet for so long Tetsuya thought he wouldn’t reply. “It doesn’t matter.” He said eventually and pushed away from the wall. “There is no magic that could give form to _your_ fear.” His smile was rueful. “I suppose that makes you lucky among us.”

Tetsuya opened his mouth to demand an explanation - he was sick of the constant hints and allusions - but there were no words. He stared at Akashi’s retreating back and all that he could think of was how sad it looked. How lonely.

He jogged to catch up, falling into step next to Akashi. He felt there was a wall between them, one he had helped to erect but now he couldn’t help but wish it were gone. He wanted to reach out, had wanted to from the very beginning. But they were not friends.

It almost made Tetsuya falter in his steps when he realized that he wanted to be. He swallowed but the feeling of imbalance would not go away.

“I did not think Akashi-kun was afraid of anything.” He said, because he couldn’t stand the oppressing silence in his own head. He might have been prying, but he did not care.

“I am not without fault.” Akashi said snidely.

“Fear is not a fault.”

Akashi let out a huff of air that could have been a laugh. “Fear is a weakness. And what else could a weakness be than a failure? This form of expectation has followed me since birth. Even before it became evident what power I possessed. Discovering that only primed the pressure.”

Tetsuya narrowed his eyes. “I do not understand.”

“I suppose Kuroko wouldn’t.” Akashi said. “You truly must be blessed.”

“I don’t think it is a matter of blessings.” Kuroko said carefully. “Much can be controlled by one’s personal efforts. No effort is truly ever wasted. Not trying is a much greater sin than failing.”

“And yet privilege is spread without regards to effort. No matter how much the untalented practice, they will never reach to the heights a prodigy may reach at their first attempt.”

“That may be so.” Tetsuya said with maybe a bit more heat than necessary. It had been difficult in its own way to grow up without an ounce of magic talent. Abilities were one thing, but to not be able to do even the barest of magic, had been quite a burden during his formative years. “But even a prodigy can be brought to their knees.” Tetsuya was looking at Akashi, willing him to understand what he wouldn’t put into words.

Akashi’s lips twitched and he faintly inclined his head. “But will it require another prodigy to do so?”

“No,” Tetsuya said firmly. “What worth is talent when it is not honed? What worth is it when it is not appreciated?”

“Worth is not defined by appreciation.”

“Then by what means is worth defined?”

Akashi opened his mouth, quick-fire like all the times before, but this time no words followed. He slowly closed his mouth, took a calming breath. “I used to have an answer for that.” He said. “I am no longer sure it is the right one.”

Tetsuya would have liked to ask what answer that was, but he felt that whatever strange resonance they had just built between them would shatter if he did. “Right and wrong are merely matters of perspective.” He said instead. “I wish to say my truth is the only right one. And I do not deny that it is the right truth for me. But that doesn’t mean Akashi-kun can’t have his own truth.”

“That is a rather ineffective way to sum up one’s argument.” Akashi said mildly. He would have appeared his usually flavor of amusement, but Tetsuya could see the faint cracks in his carefully crafted veneer. Something he said had deeply affected Akashi, one way or another.

“I was not trying to convince Akashi-kun to follow my beliefs. I was merely trying to explain a different viewpoint.”

Akashi eyed him for a moment. “There must have come a lesson with this revelation.”

Tetsuya felt his lips twitch faintly, to give voice to the faint tingle of ironic amusement that woke at Akashi’s words. “I used to belief I held the only valuable truth in my hands.” He said somewhat wistfully. “I used to think my way trumped every other way. I tried to fix what was not mine to fix.”

“Our moral system does not allow for unambiguous determination of right and wrong. It is a fallacy to begin with to assume there is only one such system.”

“I wasn’t wrong.” Tetsuya said. “I just wasn’t right either.”

“Or maybe the other party was just as right as Kuroko was.” Akashi offered.

Kuroko felt himself smile. “The true goal of any discourse is consensus not compromise. I am not wrong, but that does not mean that my truth eclipses every other truth.”

“I suppose it is rather telling that I can’t help but think that there was a time in my life when I would have needed someone to question my truth. Even if the outcome would be as yours was, the questioning alone might have-“ Akashi broke off and sighed. “It does not serve to dwell on these matters. The past is as it is. Even I can’t change that.”

“Akashi-kun is full of mysteries.”

“Thus it seems to the unobserving eye.” Akashi said lightly.

“As well as conceited.” Tetsuya added with no real bite.

Akashi exhaled on a breath that could be a laugh. But his eyes had taken back that cold, detached expression he had worn the first time they had met. “I might as well be. Kuroko has read my file. Then he must know what happened to lead to my _vacation_ from the real world.”

“The details have been removed from official records. Akashi-kun has been given an excuse for his behavior. Although I have to admit, I have no idea what behavior that would even be.”

“Ah, of course. Father wouldn’t appreciate his name sullied further than it absolutely had to. I am a disgrace of a son. What did it say? Nervous breakdown? Burnout? It must be something like that. _Overworked_ is so much prettier than mentally ill.”

“Nervous breakdown.” Tetsuya said quietly. The amusement had vanished completely now from Akashi’s face. What was left was an expression that scared him.

Tetsuya swallowed. Akashi didn’t offer any more and he felt hesitant to ask. He wanted to know more about Akashi - at this point he couldn’t even pretend it was professional interest - but he found he had a hard time swallowing what he had learned so far. Maybe not knowing was the better choice. It was certainly the easier one.

In the end, he didn’t ask, didn’t say anything more. The wall was as insurmountable as before.

The road came up to the island’s Southern tip. It turned in a sharp V to wind along the Western side of the island, but the path was blocked off by a large iron fence. The shore was lined with large rocks that lay cluttered around before a low stone wall cut off access to the lapping waves. A yellow sign warned from climbing the scattered rocks.

There was no sign of a hideout or anything else that would hint at hidden activities. He hadn’t really expected there to be. A lot of people came here during the day; it wouldn’t do if it was easily discovered. Today though, with its overcast skies and promise of rain in the air, they were the only ones in the area.

A cold breeze blew from the water front and Tetsuya wished he could be inside where it was dry and warm. But he had a job to do.

Akashi observed the sign and then the rocks, before staring back out at the sea.

Tetsuya started searching. But there was nothing, no trace, no hint of anything out of the ordinary. There was some trash between the stones, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, even a few empty spell ampoules. He picked up one of the ampoules, but there was no sign as to what spells it had contained. Tetsuya looked around, but there was no trashcan nearby. He put it in his coat pocked with a small sigh to throw away later.

In the distance, thunder rolled. Tetsuya glanced up at the sky. The clouds had gathered into a thick, grey mass, ready to unleash their load any second now. Climbing over the rocks would be dangerous once they were wet.

“Maybe we are too late.” He said, looking to where Akashi still stood, unmoving, gazing out at the restless sea. The wind tore at his clothes, some cheap department store outfit that Tetsuya’s wallet could afford without cutting down on other expenses. “Maybe they already moved on. We did lose three days after all.” He didn’t know if he really believed that or if it was merely wishful thinking. Something about the atmosphere had changed. It wasn’t just the threat of approaching rain and thunder. The air was charged with impeding lightning and something else. As though the air itself was issuing a warning.

“No,” Akashi’s voice was torn from his mouth by the relentless wind and Tetsuya barely made out the word. Akashi sounded different. Colder somehow. Tetsuya blinked. For a moment he had thought the collar around Akashi’s neck was gone. But it must have been a trick of the light or the incessant flapping of Akashi’s shirt collar that had obscured it. “It is here.”

Tetsuya squinted. Rain had started to fall in slow dribbles but it was quickly picking up. Akashi was still looking out at the sea. Tetsuya shielded his eyes against the onslaught of wind and rain. Lightning flashed in the darkened sky.

“Where?” He had to raise his voice to be heard over the storm. If Akashi answered, he did not hear it as thunder roared right that moment. It was close. Akashi still did not move.

Tetsuya stepped down from the rocks and onto flat ground. He huddled in close to Akashi, drawn in by the promise of warmth, but he hesitated at the last moment. For a moment it has seemed almost natural to seek Akashi’s contact, as if it were something he had done countless times. The moment passed.

“Akashi-kun, I would really appreciate if you could show me what you are referring to.” He hoped he didn’t have to make an order out of it. It was simply against his nature to order people around, unless it were his friends who knew he wasn’t serious.

Akashi looked at him for a moment, as if evaluating. For a moment Tetsuya feared that he wasn’t going to do it, but then Akashi inclined his head and said without any inflection: “Very well then.”

Akashi climbed over the slippery rocks and onto the low wall that separated them from the waterfront. He stared out at the water for a long time. Rain was relentlessly beating down, the wind had picked up as well and lighting hit every few seconds now. None of that seemed to bother Akashi in the least.

And then he stepped out onto the water. Without thinking, Tetsuya lurched forward, reaching out to grasp at Akashi’s shirt, but he was too slow and too far away. But Akashi did not sink. His feet stood solidly a few feet above the rolling waves. He turned around halfway, as if to invite Tetsuya to follow. Another flash of lightning broke through the sky and for the short moment the world was illuminated in sharp blue light, Akashi’s visible left eye seemed to flash pure gold.

Akashi didn’t wait to see if Tetsuya followed.

It was pouring heavily now and Tetsuya had to shield his eyes from the relentless rain. This was a terrible idea. But he followed Akashi anyway, making his way carefully over the slippery rocks and onto the wall. He searched the rolling waves but he could not make out whatever it was that Akashi was standing on.

He very carefully lowered his foot over the waves, wind and rain pulling on him, water slapping his face. His foot hit solid ground, just as another roll of thunder hit close, startling Tetsuya almost bad enough to lose his balance.

Akashi had walked in a straight line which made it comparably easy to follow him. Still, Tetsuya had to move very slowly and carefully, shielding his face from the rain while simultaneously trying to hold on to his tenuous balance.

“What is this?” He tried to shout, but his voice had never been good at being loud. Akashi had stopped, but he didn’t seem to have heard him. Tetsuya gritted his teeth. He braced himself and forced his way forward against the onslaught of weather.

Akashi was staring at something in the water. He was also completely dry, despite the rain coming down hard around them. Of course, for Akashi it should be no problem to adjust the reality around him to his liking. Tetsuya had a good mind to shove him into the ocean, but he would probably just undo the water or something equally ridiculous.

“Is this Akashi-kun’s version of a joke?” Tetsuya asked when he was finally in earshot. Which was rather close. Close enough to ‘accidentally’ brush against Akashi and disturb his ability, but Tetsuya reined in his petty desires.

“Tetsuya should be able to see it,” was Akashi’s uninspired response. Looking at him one would have never guessed that they were in any kind of hurry.

Tetsuya ignored his urge to express his annoyance and focused his attention on the ocean. Specifically the point Akashi was staring at.

The waves were whipped higher and higher by the wind. But no matter how high the waves reached, they never breeched through the invisible barrier that served as their bridge, which made for a rather odd visual effect. Lightning flashed every few seconds, followed by the deafening crash of thunder. The bridge had to be here for a reason. And Tetsuya could not let this chance get away. He stared at the water. And there it was.

At a certain spot just in front of them, the waves broke around a vaguely rectangular shape. The shape itself was invisible, but outlined every time the water rose high enough. Tetsuya carefully felt his way forward with one foot, following the smooth surface of the bridge until he hit something solid in his way. It seemed to be some sort of hatch as far as he could tell. Tetsuya was pretty sure it would be impossible to make out when the waves were calm.

It seemed to be some sort of entrance, if Tetsuya had to guess. A trapdoor maybe. How that would even work, he had no idea.

“How do we get inside?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Akashi said bluntly.

This time Tetsuya gave in to the impulse to roll his eyes. Akashi couldn’t see him anyway. Just when he thought he understood Akashi a little bit better, he went right back to being unapproachable and cold.

Carefully, Tetsuya felt his way around the bridge. He maneuvered around Akashi, who at least had the good graces to lean out of his way. The bridge led directly to the structure. Tetsuya paused. The bridge was still invisible, despite him walking on it. There was a chance however that he would disrupt the magic upon direct touch, which would toss them both into the ocean.

“How does it work?” He asked Akashi. Maybe that would give him a clue if it was safe to touch.

Akashi crouched then, planting the palm of his hand against the invisible surface of the bridge. Tetsuya watched. Aida had put down a few tentative notes as to potential weaknesses of Akashi’s powers; one of them had been range. Accordingly, Akashi could only manipulate tings in direct contact to his skin, although Aida had put a lot of question marks around that part.

“The bridge is upheld by a rather complex mechanism of interlocking spells. As is the structure that we are about to enter. A concealment spell is layered right on top. Incidentally, the spell does not create an illusion as it directly manipulates the light. That way, the true state of the water underneath is reflected. Quite intricate work, I must say.

“I could disrupt the magic, if I touched it. If Akashi-kun would be so kind and see how to open this door?”

“That is highly unlikely.” Akashi said after a short glance at Tetsuya. “The layered nature of the spells would prevent an immediate collapse. The concealment spell would be the first to go. That should be ample warning.”

Tetsuya huffed. “I won’t save Akashi-kun if we fall into the water.

Akashi seemed amused. “Isn’t it my duty to save Kuroko from drowning?”

“It would be Akashi-kun’s duty to protect me from the possibility of drowning.”

“Maybe Kuroko should have thought of that, before stepping out onto a magical bridge.” He looked pensive for a moment. “I disabled the alarm spells that were set in place; the storm as well will have gone a great ways to mask our presence. But there might be more spells inside. It is best to be careful.”

“Then I should probably go ahead.”

Akashi’s lips twitched. “That is both unnecessary as well as unduly dangerous. I will go ahead. It _is_ my duty after all.” With that, he swiftly stepped around Tetsuya. Tetsuya was too startled to form a reply.

Akashi crouched and ghosted his hand over an empty spot of air. A moment later, that same air folded open to reveal a dark, perfectly circular hole. Tetsuya had to blink and refocus a few times to make his brain accept the crazy sight. There was a hole in the water. And the waves kept rolling up against an invisible barrier; even the rain seemed to bounce off a protective surface.

He hesitated a moment, hand on the rim of _whatever_ crested the hole, before clicking his tongue. “It is empty. There seem to be no particular spells. The height should be safe as well.” He nodded and then dropped with fluid ease into the darkness. Tetsuya only hear a muffled thump of his impact.

Tetsuya leaned forward to peek inside, but he couldn’t make out much, except fleeting shadows and a faint yellow glow. “Akashi-kun?” He called hesitantly.

“Kuroko can come.” Akashi called back and Tetsuya took a deep breath. He hesitantly put his hands on the ground near the opening, bracing himself for the impact of water. Nothing happened. Not even the illusion spell broke. His immunity came in handy a lot of times, but there were occasions when it caused more problems than it was worth. The constant risk of disabling whatever magic he came into contact with was one of them.

He took one deep breath before dropping through the hole after Akashi.


	10. Tetsuya VI

The landing was jarring but longtime practice had Tetsuya roll over his shoulder upon impact. It was a move he had spent hours perfecting. The key skill in any fight was to know how to fall right. It could make the difference between a loss and a victory. It also worked so much better on solid ground without a water fist lashing after him.

The room was indeed empty, save for the tow of them. There was a ratty old carpet on the ground, pattern faded beyond recognition. The light actually stemmed from inlaid runes that lined the wall just below the ceiling. It was fuzzy and barely enough to light the entire room and the bright yellow of it was rather unpleasant for the eyes. There was one door leading out of the room at the wall furthest from the opening.

Inside it was marginally warmer than outside, but only because the incessant onslaught of rain had stopped. Tetsuya was still very much cold in his dripping clothes. Akashi, of course, was still dry as a log and Tetsuya felt resentment for that fact just by looking at him.

Akashi had taken to examine the walls, trailing his fingers over their worn surface. Tetsuya figured he had it covered and approached the door. The wood was worn from age, the hinges were rusty and the handle stained with patina. There were faded markings on the door, runes and sigils and if he looked really closely he could see the outlines of a circle as well.

“I wouldn’t touch that.” Akashi idly said, still looking at the wall.

“And why is that?” Tetsuya’s hand hovered centimeters away from the wood, about to touch one of the more visible runes. “Is there a spell I could interrupt?”

“It’s a trap, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Tetsuya echoed dully. “If it is a magic trap, there is no harm in me touching it, is there?” Still, he pulled back his hand. He wouldn’t fancy being trapped in an underground room in the middle of the ocean.

“Good point, that thought certainly invites itself.” Akashi sounded somewhat mocking, or maybe that was just Tetsuya increasingly bad mood.

“I do have my moments,” Tetsuya muttered.

Akashi, predictably, ignored him. “This is a rather elaborate structure, as Kuroko might have noticed. The spells that keep the room locked underwater are wrought into these circles. They, in turn, are locked to the spell on that door. If it disperses, which it invariably will if one opens the door, the whole structure will collapse around us.”

“I see.” Tetsuya said and took a cautious step backwards. His touch might not have dispersed the spell, but he was certainly not taking any chances. “So I presume this room is not the actual hideout, but merely a trap?”

“Something of the sort.” Akashi tapped a hand against the wall. Slowly, a large alchemic circle appeared, glowing faintly in a bluish color that mixed badly with the yellow light from above. One after another, circles appeared on the other three walls, each spanning from ceiling to floor. Tetsuya recognized many of the runes; the most common was the rune for barrier. There were a few odd runes along the outermost circle, the same ones Tetsuya had seen on the summoning circle in Kinogawa’s apartment.

It was a truly impressive piece of alchemy.

Alchemy was in its essence a method for transformation, or as it was aptly called transmutation. In its basic form transmutation was nothing else but the rearrangement of molecules. A plank of wood could be formed into a tool. The more skill the alchemist possessed, the more complex the transmutation. Higher tier schools of alchemy taught the rearrangement of atoms; sand could be made into quartz. The possibilities were endless.

There were rumors even, that some alchemists were able to perform biological transmutation - shifting around the components of atoms to create something entirely different. That was of course, impossible.

The kind of work that had to have flown into this creation, Tetsuya couldn’t even imagine it.

“How do we get past the trap?” Tetsuya asked. He was looking around for clues, but so far it yielded few results.

“I would say by deactivating it,” Akashi tapped his knuckles against the wall. “Or rather, by convincing the spell that we are authorized to pass.” His lips twitched faintly as though to smile, but he didn’t say anything more.

Tetsuya withheld a sigh. “I would rather not have to make everything an order, Akashi-kun.” He said with more venom than intended. But he was wet and miserable and Akashi - who had the audacity to be dry and at ease - wasn’t making it especially easy to hold on to his temper.

“But this is how it is supposed to be, is it not?” Akashi’s eyes were glittering, even in the dim yellow light. “I am to do what Kuroko tells me.”

“If I were to forbid Akashi-kun from breathing, would he do it? Am I supposed to retract each step we took and find instances were Akashi-kun acted without prompting to see if punishment needs to be administered? Is this what Akashi-kun _wants?_ ”

“This is not a question of what _I_ want.”

Tetsuya took a breath, held it for a long moment and then exhaled. He was angry and very much tempting to bite back a reply, but there was no point. He already had the upper hand.

“Maybe not,” he said. “And maybe this is conceited for me to say. But I do not wish to hold Akashi-kun’s leash. I would prefer if we could work together on this. Even if only for this mission.”

Akashi regarded him for a moment, pensive. “This _is_ conceited. And not a request I have the rights to deny, is it?”

“I won’t force Akashi-kun.” He exhaled. “Although I do recognize that it does little to present a difference.”

“Fair enough. I will heed Kuroko’s request. As superficial a liberty as it is.”

“For what it’s worth, I am sorry about the circumstances. It is not fair to Akashi-kun to submit him to my requirements.”

“Apologizing for a necessary requirement devalues its inherent necessity. I’d like to think Kuroko values our arrangement more than that.” Akashi’s voice sounded cool, but was missing the usually condescension that marked his words.

“That may be so. But I’d prefer if we could have worked together on equal grounds, wishful thinking as that may be. I do understand the requirements of the circumstances. And the rules that apply to Akashi-kun’s support in this - have to apply, if Aida-san is to be believed. I was merely expressing my remorse about the situation.”

Akashi inclined his head. “Then, I will gladly accept Kuroko’s heartfelt apology.” For a moment Tetsuya was convinced Akashi was teasing him. But for all his amusement and silent mockery, teasing would have been entirely out of character. Tetsuya shook the thought from his mind.

“If Akashi-kun were so kind to explain to me what is the nature of this room?” He prompted.

Akashi’s lips twitched in what could have been a smile.

“This room is a doorway, if you will. Its primary function is to contain the entrance to what I suppose is the actual hideout. It has been designed to deter intruders.”

“Isn’t this rather exaggerated? After all, the entrance itself is fairly well hidden. And once someone springs the trap, the room will be destroyed. Irrevocably I presume.”

“Do not forget how easily we found it. In times of clairvoyance, how well hidden can anything hope to be? There are of course ways, but the skill and magical strength required for such a task is exorbitant. It would be impossible to achieve in either case.”

“I guess that explains it. But isn’t it rather foolish to leave the bridge outside as it is? Anyone could stumble over it by accident.”

Akashi inclined his head. “That is indeed a concern. But the bridge itself is a remarkable existence. Hiding it further would have required exceptional abilities.”

Tetsuya made a short-lived attempt to wrap his head around the whole concept but quickly gave up. “So we better expect even more traps along the way?”

“Possible. But I expect a higher chance that we will be running into the inhabitants. We haven’t triggered any spells, but I doubt our entrance has gone unnoticed. One way or another, I don’t think they will keep this hideout any longer.”

“Which means that we advance now or we will have lost our chance.”

“Exactly. I will be able to activate the translocation. I might have to make allowances for Kuroko, however. It won’t be much of a problem.”

Tetsuya checked the weapons he had on himself. Mostly knives, but he had also brought his custom-equipped gun. The gun employed gunpowder as opposed to the more common magical charge. That made the bullets marginally slower, but it also prevented Tetsuya from accidentally disabling his firearm. Everything was at its designated place. He thought for a moment, hand around the hilt of a dagger. “Does Akashi-kun need a weapon?”

Akashi looked at him from the runes he had been inspecting. For a moment he just looked, as though evaluating. “That won’t be necessary.” Akashi hesitated for a moment. “But thank you.” He said at last.

Tetsuya was stunned. He took a moment to recover, during which a rather awkward silence stretched between them.

“Well then, is Kuroko ready?” Akashi asked.

Tetsuya took a deep breath, steadying himself. Then he nodded.

Akashi reached out his hand and Tetsuya stared at it for a moment, dumbfounded, before he realized what it was that Akashi was expecting.

Tetsuya hesitated. “Won’t that interfere with whatever it is Akashi-kun is attempting?”

“It will make it harder, for certain. But I have already modified reality around myself. It will create a bit of a paradox, which might result in some turbulences, but it should not interfere with the transition itself.

Hesitantly - because he was still skeptical, _not_ because his heart was fluttering entirely unprovoked - Tetsuya reached out his own hand.

He shuddered involuntarily at the contact. His own skin was clammy and wet, but Akashi’s was dry and very warm. Thankfully, Akashi didn’t remark on it.

“Brace yourself. This will be rather unpleasant. You may want to hold your breath.” Akashi instructed. His hand tightened. That was the only warning Tetsuya received. The floor collapsed underneath their feet and a torrent of water hit them a moment later. Tetsuya squeezed his eyes shut in reflex. The shock almost made him gasp, but thanks to Akashi’s warning he managed to hold his breath.

It was over as fast as it had begun.

Tetsuya blinked into the suddenly very dry air. They were in an entirely different room, lavishly furnitured and more spacious than the previous one. He had only time to take that in, before a sudden blast of magic fire hit him full frontal.

The magic dissipated the moment it made contact with his skin, but the sheer physical force of the impact threw him back a few steps. It was an odd sensation, like being shoved by a huge pillow filled with cotton. Which was a good thing, considering he was still somewhat sensitive in places. The blast had come from a group of men clustered at the center of the room, where a large glowing circle was drawn onto the floor.

Akashi dove behind a large cabinet that stood against the nearest wall and Tetsuya quickly followed his example by seeking cover behind a huge, plush armchair. He kept an eye out for their attackers, as he reached for the gun. He wasn’t going to try close combat anytime soon and the gun was loaded with special bullets that were inscribed with runes that could disrupt magic. It made handling them a pain, but it was worth it.

Just then, one of the men stepped forward and into the glowing circle, causing a flare of purple energy to burst forth. Tetsuya instinctively ducked lower, bringing his body out of the attack zone while simultaneously taking aim. He only needed to disable the magic circle and then…

The violet energy swirled, suspended in air for a moment, before tendrils shot out in their direction, slapping the gun from Tetsuya’s hand with physical force before he could fire. The energy itself dissipated the moment it made contact with his skin.

Tetsuya didn’t lose time in diving after the gun. Now that he knew the energy was couldn’t harm him; he wasn’t about to let this window of opportunity pass. HIs fingers closed around the handle of his gun, just as a strangled groan came from Akashi’s direction. Tetsuya whirled around and immediately froze at what he was seeing.

Some of the purple energy tendrils had latched on to the collar around his throat, yanking him forward, as though on a leash. Akashi had his teeth gritted and tried to pull the tendrils off, but seemed to have little success.

“Let him go,” Tetsuya snapped, without thinking.

“Not before you answer a few question.” One of the men - the one who had activated the circle - said in a cold voice. He held the coils of energy in his hand, controlling them at will. He dragged Akashi closer. “Who are you and what do you want here?”

Akashi gave up his struggle, following the tug of his collar without resistance. The purple energy seemed to calm as well, changing from its erratic pulsing to slow sinuous waves.

“I could ask the same of you.” Tetsuya said. The purple energy made no more attempt to reach for him, but he had no doubt that it would react as soon as he aimed his gun away from the floor. He measured the angle it would take to destroy the circle. It was risky, but if he distracted them enough, he would be able to do it. But that would mean putting Akashi’s life on the line. He should have been able to shake off the attack - even now - that he didn’t, worried Tetsuya deeply.

“Too bad we are not interested in answering your questions.” The man, clad in the same dark purple, velvet robes than the others, every inch of visible skin, including the bald head, tattooed with a deeply interwoven web of sigils. He moved his fingers against each other, as though rubbing off dirt and the tendrils reacted. One detached from the bulk and wrapped around the tag at the front of the collar, before it started to faintly pulse.

“It will take a moment, but I will have attained control over your little attack dog here soon enough. I could blow him up or make him attack you. This collar provides me with ample opportunity.” He smiled all teeth. “Now tell me what you want here and why you have been so insistent on invading our lair.”

“Ask him why he thought he could take us with two people.” Another one of the men said; a bulky specimen with eyes completely white. “I’m quite offended.”

“This one is quite powerful. I expect undue hubris may have played a role. It is of little matter either way. Now, will you tell us or should I find another use for your pet?”

Tetsuya willed himself to calm. He calculated the lines of sight for all of the men for the fifth time, but the conclusion was all the same. He inched his arm upwards, while keeping the distress obvious on his face. Distraction, that was what he needed.”

“Isn’t it obvious? We have come to rescue councilor Kinogawa.” Tetsuya said.

“Ah, the abducted councilman. What makes you think we could have anything to do with that?”

“A little bird told me.” Tetsuya said. Another centimeter. If only he wasn’t kneeling on the floor. That would elevate both his position, as well as the lines of sight of the others. But this could work to his advantage Peripheral vision was more likely to give away any rapid movement.

“Ah.” The man smirked. “So you were the ones that Azuki spoke to? I regret to inform you, Azuki has twittered for the last time.”

Tetsuya suppressed the impulse to lunge and shoot with sheer willpower. He hadn’t known Azuki for long, but he had helped them. He didn’t deserve to die for it.

“That comes as a surprise.” Tetsuya bit out. “I had the impression skill is not exactly a virtue in your men. The last one I encountered could do little more than throw around some water.” The bruises on his body belied that, but he wouldn’t tell them that.

The man’s hand twitched and the violet energy increased its pulsing. Sweat beaded on Akashi’s face. Tetsuya cursed inwardly. Something was wrong. Why hadn’t he shaken off the attack already? Why _couldn’t_ he?

“That is quite rich coming from someone who had his ass handed to him.” The man said with a cruel smirk. “I have to wonder though, where did your pet leave its teeth?”

He shouldn’t fall for this kind of bait, but Tetsuya couldn’t hold back the words. “He is not a pet.”

“Then you shouldn’t have put a collar on him.”

Tetsuya’s hand twitched upwards without his doing, revealing his intent. Tetsuya hesitated for a moment, halted by his fear for Akashi, and that was all it took for the tendrils of violet energy to slap the gun out of his hand and out of range. This time, the energy did not dissipate upon contact. The man watched him with renewed interest.

“You are quite the interesting species.” He said with a nasty glint in his eyes. “I might be able to find some use for you after all. We are always in need of test subjects.” His smile was cruel.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you. But I do not plan on being anyone’s test subject.” Tetsuya said. His finger hurt where the gun had been torn from his grip, the trigger had twisted his joint in the process. He ignored the urge to feel the spot for damage.

“You won’t have a choice. I have your _friend_ under wraps and you alone won’t be able to do anything. But I suppose some discipline is in order. You have disrupted one too many of our operations. I can’t allow any more hindrance to our plans.”

“And what exactly is it that you are after?” Tetsuya could do little more than glare at the man. He hated how helpless he was. The tendrils were no danger to him, but he couldn’t afford to put Akashi at risk.

“And why would I tell you that? Just because you are not going to walk out of here alive, doesn’t mean I will divulge our plans. But I might be convinced to indulge you for a while, if you tell me just how you found our hideout. It would be important for future reference. And while you’re at it, I would really like to know what spell it is you’re using.”

Tetsuya calculated. He could keep the man distracted with talk for a while longer. He had no idea what good would that do, but it was better than nothing. Maybe, if he was careful enough, he could get close enough to touch the swirling magic energy. If he was lucky, he would be able to disrupt it. He inched forward the barest amount, and almost instantly a tendril came down hard on the floor in front of him

The man sighed “I suppose that means no then?” His lips twisted into an ugly snarl. “You had your chance.” The tendril wrapped around the tag glowed a bright purple and the light crept up and into the metal of the collar until it seemed Akashi was wearing a necklace of pure light.

The man let out a satisfied sigh. “Whoever thought of this was rather practical, there’s not much to play around with. But. Ah, magic is a wonderful thing isn’t it?” He turned towards Akashi. “I hold your life in my hands. Tell me what you know and I might be swayed to spare it.”

Akashi looked at Tetsuya for a moment, pensive. Tetsuya had the distinct feeling Akashi was telling him something but he had no idea what it was.

“I have no interest in telling you anything. But I would like to hear about your plans.” Akashi said smoothly. The tendrils increased their pulsing.

“Wrong answer.” The man tugged on the tendril-leash in his hand once. The collar gave off a high-pitched sound, before the glowing abruptly stopped. The tendrils convulsed and retreated with almost panicked haste. A moment later, the entire energy flowing from the circle dissipated into nothing. The man looked startled.

Akashi reached up and opened the magically sealed latch of the collar with a flick of his finger. He dropped it unceremoniously to the ground. “I was being pleasant for the sake of information. I truly have no patience for ornery men such as you. I will have to extract the information myself, then.”

Tetsuya swallowed. It had been at the back of his mind ever since he had seen firsthand what Akashi could do. He had _known_ that it was a possibility but he had chosen not to think about it. But now there was no more denial. And he couldn’t help but wonder why he had waited this long to do it in the first place.

To their credit, none of the cultists hesitated for long. They launched their attacks simultaneously, focused entirely on Akashi. Tetsuya dove for his gun and fired at the man closest to him, bullet blasting right through the whirl of power he had created. The bullet hit the man’s shoulder just as the power in front of him collapsed. The man screamed, clawed at his shoulder as the magic engraved in his skin tried to expel the foreign object, driving the bullet deeper into the man’s body in the process.

Tetsuya shifted his aim to the next man, only to find that he had already been taken care of. In fact, the only one standing was the leader. Akashi pressed a hand to his neck. The others were strewn on the ground, knocked out or worse.

The leader laughed. It was a sharp sound, coming out in quick bursts and entirely bereft of mirth. “What are you going to do? I’m not going to spill and you haven’t got the power left to make me.”

It was true. Akashi was standing absolutely rigid, seemingly frozen in position. He had his face forced into a mask of calm that was obviously cracking at the edges and rivulets of sweat were running down his face. The cornea of his left eye was filled in with red, as though more than just a few vessels had popped.

Tetsuya pressed his hand to the large tattoo the man he had shot had on his own shaved head. The magic flared up in defense, trying to throw Tetsuya off, only to glance off ineffectively. More and more magic flared up to no avail. The man twitched in Tetsuya’s grip as the magic cursed through him. Tetsuya felt heat built under his palms but he didn’t let go until the man’s eyes rolled inward and he collapsed. The leader’s eyes widened and the laughter died on his tongue.

“What are you?” He hissed through his teeth.

Tetsuya ignored him. “What are you after?”

The man’s eyes darted from Akashi to Tetsuya’s hand and then back to his face. “So that’s how it is. I was wondering how you’d get your hands on someone like him. But I guess the two of you have found your perfect match.” The man’s face pulled into a nasty grimace of a grin.

Without warning the man shoved his elbow into Akashi’s stomach, dislodging his grip and making him stumble backwards. Tetsuya’s first thought was to aim and shoot, but then he saw the magic building at the tips of the man’s fingers - mirrored by the many circles and sigils engraved in the walls that had now started glowing as well - and threw himself forward.

The man tried to dodge him, but was obstructed by Akashi still behind him and so Tetsuya collided with him full frontal. The impact knocked the wind from Tetsuya’s lungs, as well as sent a flare of pain through his bruised side, but he was driven by one single thought. He wrapped his arms around the man, covering as much skin as he could. The magic imbued in the man’s skin flared up.

The spell he had tried to weave collapsed as his concentration broke. Tetsuya gritted his teeth as the heat built up. The magic in the man’s skin was fueled by the magic from the circles, but no matter how hard the spell tried to protect its master, none of it had any effect. A moment later, the man collapsed and Tetsuya shoved him off him, bringing as much distance between them as possible. The man’s skin was badly burned, but he was still breathing.

Tetsuya was panting for air, adrenaline still coursing through him, but the danger that had sparked it was no longer there. Akashi was kneeling on the ground, a hand covering his eyes. Tetsuya walked over on shaky legs. If the man had finished that spell, Tetsuya shuddered. They would have drowned like rats.

“Are you alright?” He collapsed to his knees next to Akashi. He wanted to- he didn’t even knew what he wanted.

“I will be,” came the muttered reply. “I have overextended the reach of my power quite a bit. This should not become a habit. But there is no reason to worry.” He said the last part rather briskly. Tetsuya knew a dismissal when he heard one, so he turned his attention to their surroundings.

He felt like throwing up. There was a bloody circle drawn on the floor, he might just have accidentally killed a man and four others were unconscious or worse.

“They’re alive.” Akashi murmured as though hearing Tetsuya’s thoughts. “Barely.”

The relief was almost palpable. Tetsuya slumped back on the floor. He was wet, miserable and all of this had amounted to absolutely nothing.

He couldn’t stop the shaking of his hands. He needed- Tetsuya clenched his hands, sending a stab of pain through his palms. The skin was red and sensitive, throbbing faintly now that he relaxed them. He took a deep breath. He needed to _think._

Right. They had come here for a reason.

“I will look for clues,” Tetsuya said, more to himself than to Akashi.

He still felt wobbly on his feet, but now that he had something to focus his mind on, it wasn’t as bad as before.

The room itself presented little other than dead people and lavish furniture. The walls were covered with similar circles as the first room, but additionally there were runes and symbols covering every other available bit of space. Tetsuya wisely stayed away from the walls. He’d rather not collapse the structure by accident.

There was a small door at the back, leading into what seemed to be a small office space. A door led from the office into a tiny bathroom that only held a toilet and a sink. The office held a desk, a chair and a book shelf. There was a single monitor on the desk, showing an image of the storm-swept sea outside. Tetsuya hadn’t seen a camera, but it had to have been there.

He checked the shelf first. There were rows and rows of books about summoning, demonology, occultism and a lot of other obscure craft. A few of the books predated the magical revolution, tomes bound in heavy leather and reeking of foul magic. But nothing that offered a clue. Tetsuya even checked a few of the books, thinking he might find some obscure detail that might provide a hint. But with no idea what he was even looking for - information about the summoning of some ancient Chaos entity wasn’t exactly _helpful_ to solve the case - he gave up quickly. The feeling of some of the old tomes made his skin crawl.

And then, because this was just the right place for something like this, he pulled out every single book to see if it opened a secret passage. There was none. He idly wondered if the opening was triggered by magic, but somehow he doubted that.

Tetsuya turned towards the desk. It was a sturdy hardwood desk, probably expensive and pretty much empty, save for the monitor and a glass paper weight. Its existence would suggest that there was paper to hold down _somewhere_ , but the desk had no drawers and no secret compartments as Tetsuya determined after knocking on a lot of wood.

His frustration was growing with every passing minute. The temperature was rather warm, so he wasn’t freezing per se, but he’d still like to change out of his wet clothes soon. At least he could numb the throbbing in his palms by pressing them into the fabric. He returned to the main room. Akashi had taken a seat on the large sofa that dominated one half of the room. He seemed tired and just as miserably wet as Tetsuya, but at least his eyes seemed to be alright.

Tetsuya felt the sudden urge to laugh. They’d been together for less than a week and already Tetsuya could see the dependency forming. Why bother searching by hand if Akashi might be able to just _see_ clues. The urge vanished as rapid as it had come and all it left Tetsuya with was the feeling of impending tears.

Tetsuya rubbed a tired hand over his eyes. There had to be something here. They severely injured five people and all for nothing. Tetsuya stared at the bodies on the floor. And then he realized that if he didn’t want to turn this into a murder spree, he would have to make sure the injured men would make it out of here. He couldn’t just leave them here. And it had taken him this long to come to that realization.

Tetsuya slumped on the small armchair opposite the sofa. He buried his face in his hands. He wanted to cry. No, he wanted to curl up in a warm blanket with some hot tea or cocoa and forget about this day. He wanted to-

Tetsuya sighed.

His thoughts were too disjointed. He needed to focus.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to pull himself together. This was usually the moment when Kagami would say something endearing and/or dumb and Tetsuya would feed from the endless pool of positivity that was his partner. But Kagami was still in the hospital, recovering. Now he really wanted to cry.

“The answer should still be here.” Akashi said into the silence. Tetsuya looked up at him. He had his eyes closed, a rather tense expression on his face. Takao tended to look like that when he was trying to relax his eyes. “I’m sorry; I can’t help looking right now. I suggest Kuroko searches for hidden doors or the like. It would go in par with their style to hide a secret within a secret.” He smiled, wryly. “It would surprise me, if they _didn’t_ hide anything.”

Tetsuya exhaled slowly. Right. He could work with this.

“There is little I can do if the hidden door is triggered by magic.” Tetsuya sighed. “If it were magically concealed, I would probably already have exposed it.”

“Magic is not the only way to conceal something.”

“I know. I’m just thinking out loud.”

Akashi inclined his head. “Magic is always the first idea, both for the one who hides as the one who looks. It has its advantages, certainly.”

“But if I already expended an extraordinary amount of magic to conceal my doorstep - leading any intruders to believe I have the resources as well as preference - I would be well advised to capitalize on that misconception.” Even while speaking, he couldn’t quite pull his eyes away from the assortment of ugly fetishes he had just found in the cabinet. _Fetishes, really?_

He slammed the door shut. Just looking at them made his insides crawl.

“I would help looking but…” Akashi shrugged.

“Does it hurt?” Tetsuya asked before he could stop himself.

Akashi looked sad for a moment. “No, not in the strictest sense.” He seemed as though he was going to say something else, but then thought better of it. Tetsuya felt it was better not to press. Sometimes he thought he could see something there in the depth of Akashi’s eyes, something that lurked under the surface - something that scared him for a reason he couldn’t quite examine.

He moved on to the next cabinet, hand pausing on the handle. There was a question that had bothered him for a long time now. And after he had seen how easily Akashi had removed the collar - how was he even going to explain _that_ to Aida? - he couldn’t help but _wonder_.

“Why…” Tetsuya hesitated. He stalled by pulling open the cabinet. He stared. There were rows and rows of glass vials, each neatly labeled and filled with a thick red liquid. There was a name on each label, followed by a number and a letter - blood group. Somehow Tetsuya didn’t think they were just samples. A sample came from a living and willing donor. These were… He didn’t want to think of it.

“Research.” Akashi said and it took Tetsuya a moment to realize he meant the blood.

“That’s not…” Tetsuya briefly shut his eyes. The world had started spinning. He closed the cabinet, but the image would not quite disappear. There were runes on the vials, small calligraphic runes to preserve the blood. There had been dates too.

This had been going on for years.

“Why did Akashi-kun come with me?” The question burst out because _something_ had to or else Tetsuya would crack.

If Akashi was surprised at the sudden question, he did not show it. “We have a contract.”

“Yes, we do. And Akashi-kun can undo that contract, I am sure of that.” Tetsuya said a bit too forcefully.

“I’d rather not.” Akashi said, sounding hesitant.

Tetsuya looked at him but found no answer to his confusion. “And why is that? What is it that this can offer Akashi-kun that he can’t obtain by himself? Is this _penance_?” The words slipped lout before he could stop them.

Akashi flinched. There was a painful expression in his eyes, one Tetsuya hated himself for putting there. “Kuroko really doesn’t know, does he?”

“Akashi-kun fell in love with me at first sight and couldn’t bear the thought to part?” Tetsuya deadpanned. It was a dumb attempt at a joke and it flew right over Akashi’s head. Tetsuya wanted to slap himself for running his mouth without thinking. But his filter just wasn’t working as it was supposed to around Akashi. “It was a joke, Akashi-kun. Evidently, I have no idea what Akashi-kun is talking about.” The urge to break into tears was back.

Akashi blinked. “I see.” He said nothing else. Tetsuya’s thoughts were running in circles. Akashi seemed to shake off whatever had befallen him. “Apologies,” he said. “I should explain then. Kuroko is a very… interesting existence. Especially since he is not aware of this. It is indeed rather peculiar.”

Tetsuya only stared in incomprehension. There was something he was not getting, but he couldn’t say for the life of him what it was.

“Kuroko is very likely an ability user with dormant powers. Which in itself is a rather curious phenomenon, as abilities are a manifestation of a person’s inclinations and affinities combined with exemplary magical ability. It would manifest as such as an active response to its host. Simply put, it is the reason why babies don’t manifest any power until they reach a certain mental maturity.

“Kuroko’s power however is very clearly shaped, sharpened with an acuity I have seldom encountered. And yet there is no awareness of said power. Does Kuroko have any memories of early childhood that seem weird? Could he do something that he wasn’t supposed to be able to do?”

“I was always immune to magic, if that is what Akashi-kun means.”

Akashi shook his head. “Quite curious indeed. This power should have not manifested if Kuroko was never aware of it. Yet it did. I was curious when we first encountered each other. I wanted to see what Kuroko could do with this power, but I didn’t expect him to be unaware.”

Tetsuya was skeptical. “As nice as that sounds, I doubt it is an ability. I have never once displayed any active powers. And I have been like this since birth.”

“Which reinforces my claim.”

“What is this power then? And why did I not know about it?”

Akashi opened his eyes. The blood had receded, but they were still rimmed red. “If I had to guess, that is because the nature of this power is not a gentle one. Kuroko’s subconscious might have barred him from accessing it. As for the former, I’m afraid I can’t answer that.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Can’t. Since Kuroko is the way he is, I can only infer from what I am not seeing as opposed to what I can see. I’m afraid the only one who will be able to uncover this secret, is Kuroko himself.”

“If it is a secret worth knowing.” Tetsuya said. “I won’t deny that this has served me well at times, but other times it is a rather tedious. Magic is supposed to make life easier.” He smiled ruefully. “I can’t say that is the case for me.”

“It might be possible that Kuroko will be able to control this power. If I were to be completely honest though, I would have to say the nature of this power is rather chilling.”

Tetsuya regarded him for a moment. “And that coming from Akashi-kun’s mouth? Does that mean it takes one to know one?”

Akashi looked faintly surprised for a moment, before a genuine smile spread on his lips. “That might indeed be the case. Not to sound conceited, but with the power I hold, there comes a unique perspective. It seems Kuroko at least has a marginal experience of the same.”

Tetsuya hid his own smile. “If Akashi-kun says so.”

“I do,” Akashi said. And there was a note of warmth in his voice that was entirely uncharacteristic. Tetsuya felt himself being floored for a moment. “I will continue to support Kuroko from here on out. Although I will have to refuse to wear a collar.”

“As if I could make Akashi-kun wear it.” Tetsuya said dryly. “I’m afraid Akashi-kun is the one with the most freedom in here. I should file an official complaint as I have very obviously been misinformed about important matters.”

Akashi just seemed very much amused. Tetsuya shook his head internally, marveling at the sudden tone of ease they had with each other.

Since it was the last thing to do, and there was no way around it, Tetsuya went to search the bodies on the ground. None showed any signs of injury, which gave them the odd impression of merely being asleep. The man Tetsuya had knocked out was still breathing. He didn’t even stir when Tetsuya searched him. None of them wore anything of notice, no ID, no wallet. The leader however had a small brass disc in his pocket, the likes of which he had never seen before. Tetsuya picked it up curiously and put it in his pocket for later analysis.

And then, on a whim, he bent to pick up one corner of the carpet. Might as well be thorough in his fruitless search.

“Now, that is mildly distasteful.” Akashi said, still amused.

For a moment, Tetsuya thought he was referring to his measly attempt at being respectful, but then he saw the simple wooden trap door on the ground. No sigils or runes, just simple wood and iron hinges were all that hid the entrance to yet another secret room.

“I feel like I should be offended by this.” Tetsuya said. He dumped the carpet over the corpses, feeling unduly vindictive. There was no lock obstructing entrance, so Tetsuya pulled open the trapdoor with little hesitation.

“I’m afraid there is more to be offended about than a cliché trap door hidden under a carpet.” Akashi said.

Tetsuya looked at him. “Do you see something?”

“No,” Akashi stared at the wall, pale-face. “I smell something.”

Tetsuya sniffed the air. He’d always had a rather weak sense of smell, for whatever reason. But there it was, faint but unmistakably - the coppery smell of blood.

 


	11. Tetsuya VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *quietly whispers* I totally forgot that I was supposed to update yesterday. Sorry for the delay

Tetsuya had never been vengeful, but now he considered going upstairs and end what they had started. Death was a far too merciful fate for these cultists. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this much hatred towards someone.

With all the things he had seen in his life and career - none of it had come even close to this.

The room’s walls were covered with white tiles and the floor was entirely made of chromed steel with drains in regular intervals. The room was the sterile kind of clean, smelling heavily of disinfectants and alcohol.

In the center of the room was a large tiled bench, more a table really. There were shackles at the corners for hands and feet, an iron neck holder at one end and grooves at the sides that led to a small outlet at the end opposite the neck iron, underneath which a large iron bowl stood placed on a pedestal. A chute in the wall on one side obviously served as waste disposal.

There was a table lined against the far side, covered with tools and medical equipment. Shelves above the table, carrying jars filled with organs, more vials of blood, a shriveled, dried up hand. Next to the table was a small desk with a laptop on it. Data pads were stacked in a corner of the desk. A few thick, leather bound tomes were lined on the other side.

And despite the smell of disinfectant in the air, the penetrating smell of copper and blood overrode everything. Tetsuya wasn’t sure where it was coming from, not with how _clean_ the room was.

Akashi’s face was pale, but he looked on with a determined expression. His eyes were still slightly red, but it seemed he had recovered from his overexertion. He carefully picked up one of the tomes and opened it. “Bound in human skin,” He murmured, “how classy.” He _sounded_ unaffected, but there was the sickly pallor to his face.

Tetsuya turned his attention back to the room. He’d rather not discuss any sensitive matters right now. His stomach was still queasy and he was afraid he would throw up anytime soon. He stared at the operation table. Its function was clear. But something didn’t quite add up. “What do they need the blood for?” He asked out aloud. The cabinet upstairs had only held small samples, a few milliliters at most.

“Rituals.” Akashi said. It didn’t sound like an assumption. Tetsuya looked at him. He tapped a page in the book. “These are some interesting accounts on attempted summoning rituals. Whoever wrote this followed a strict scientific approach. They have documented every attempt in precise detail, up to the variance of air pressure and temperature. If I had to guess, I would say this is what they have been doing.”

“You mean these books are _new_?” Tetsuya asked, shocked.

Akashi grimaced. “I’m afraid so.” He closed the tome and put it back, eying his hands critically. “It _is_ dedication to their craft, albeit a rather macabre one.”

“What about the computer?” Tetsuya asked. “Why having that here, when they were going to write everything down anyway?”

“Data transfer, I suppose.”

Tetsuya approached the terminal. “It seems to me they have a rather impractical approach. Why double documentation?” Tetsuya thought for a moment. “Okay never mind, that was a dumb thing to say. Multiple documentation is a smart thing, but why _this_?” He gestured towards the skin-bound tomes. “Is this a religious thing? Any knowledge gained can only be valued if it is documented in blood? Please don’t tell me it is written in blood.”

“That might not be too far off.” Akashi murmured. He drew a finger along a page, following a string of neatly scripted words. “And I can assure you, it seems to be regular ink.”

“Well, at least there is that. So where does the smell come from?” He didn’t want to breathe it in, but he did it anyway. “It smells _fresh_.” The thought was disconcerting.

“The walls are infused with magic. Blood has always been a remarkably good augmenter for magic, especially alchemy. The magic must have absorbed a large portion of the blood that has been spilled here.” Akashi looked at the wall with a disgusted expression. “There is a persistent belief that blood is the carrier of magic, as it has remarkable augmenting properties. I suppose this largely accounts for what we see here.”

“But that’s not how it works, is it? Blood is merely… blood.”

Akashi’s expression was thoughtful. “No. But once conviction has gone this far, little will stop it in its path.”

“Ill-placed conviction.” Tetsuya said. “Is that what this is?”

“Does it matter?”

Tetsuya shook his head. “They need to be stopped, one way or another.”

Akashi regarded him for a moment. “At all costs?”

Tetsuya stared at the flat surface of the table. The tiles that reflected the light from the ceiling lamp that had turned on the moment they entered. The shackles at the wall. The history that was drawn into these walls. There were people who could synchronize their senses with the resonance of a place, more so when it had been imbued with magical energy. He wondered what they would see in this place. He wondered what nightmares would rise from this discovery.

“If that’s what it takes.” Tetsuya said blankly.

Akashi tilted his head, but didn’t say anything, which in itself was an answer.

Tetsuya rubbed a hand over his eyes. His clothes had begun to dry, but he still felt very uncomfortable. It was time to finish this up. He dropped in the chair in front of the terminal and switched it on. Unsurprisingly, he was stalled by a request for a password and a signature scan.

He was about to turn around and ask Akashi for help, just as Akashi leaned past him to access the keyboard. Tetsuya found himself with a very close view of Akashi’s neck and a subsequent whiff of the scent that clung to his skin. Unlike Tetsuya, Akashi was still dry and therefore not burdened with the tang of brine and wet clothes. Instead there was the softest hint of flowers, mixed in with an earthy scent that reminded Tetsuya of horses and the endless wide of open grass land.

For a moment, Akashi’s scent even overpowered the tang of blood and alcohol.

“There,” Akashi said, startling Tetsuya from his thoughts. He quickly turned back to the monitor to see that Akashi had circumvented both identification prompts.

Tetsuya navigated the directory that was the terminal’s default display. Detailed documentations of the ‘test subjects’ used, detailed accounts on the experiments performed and another detailed list on what ‘specimen’ had been obtained. Against better knowledge, Tetsuya opened the last list. Bad idea. There were images. Tetsuya quickly closed the list and took a deep breath.

“What I don’t understand is,” he started, still staring at the screen. “All these people. Why was this not discovered earlier? There must be hundreds of victims, disappearance cases. It should have caught the attention of _someone_.”

“Every society has people that fall through the cracks. If one were to skim these people off, they could go with a large supply without ever being noticed. And I suppose, friends in high places do the rest.” Akashi said.

“Councilor Kinogawa may be influential, but… oh.” Tetsuya felt his heart sink. “If he is not the only one, then who…” Tetsuya trailed off. Even if he asked, there was no answer either of them could give.

“Aida is truly a fearsome woman.” Akashi said with a hint of respect in his voice. “She knows she can’t trust any of her higher ups, as long as she hasn’t determined who is involved. So she sent Kuroko to flush out the criminals. I suppose that means she has the highest respect for Kuroko’s skills. At the same time, she has to uphold appearances as a concerned chief, so she uses the ability killer as an excuse why she can’t afford more than one man for the job.”

“That way she can assuage the enemy. They will think they are being underestimated.” Tetsuya sighs. “I only wish Aida-san would tell me these things.”

“It is a gamble more than anything. Aida could not have known if there is a larger conspiracy at work. But if Kuroko shakes up things enough, the culprits will become concerned and act. I expect her to have a trap in place when that happens.”

“But this means that even if I send her this as evidence,” he gestured to the terminal, “she won’t do anything. Because it would merely be snuffed out by someone higher up the chain.” The thought made him sick.

“Most likely.”

Tetsuya felt like punching something. “I should save this regardless. It might be useful later on.”

He pulled out his keychain and unfastened the small data stick he kept attached to it and inserted it into the terminal’s reader slot. He deleted the contents, but even so it would likely not be enough to store all the computer’s data. He would just have to take what was important. He save the experiment reports, as well as list of subjects. At least the names should give Aida a clue where to look. Corruption or not, missing person cases were nothing that could be easily overlooked.

The data stick felt heavy in his pocket when they finally left, like a weight of lead that weighed him down.

Tetsuya placed an anonymous call to local authorities about ‘a weird hole in the water’ and left it at that. Akashi had erased all traces of their presence after Tetsuya had saved the terminal’s data on his own data drive.

He doubted that much would come of it. Not when higher authorities were intent on concealing the matter, but it would certainly draw attention. It might give Aida a hint as to who was involved.

It was a small comfort. But Tetsuya couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t enough.

Night had fallen in the time they had spent inside. The walk back to the car passed in companionable silence.

As soon as he reached the car, Tetsuya turned the heater on full. The walk back had been rather miserable, chilly night air and damp skin didn’t mix well. At least he had been too cold to feel his bruises much - or the still raw sensation on his palms.

Tetsuya was in an odd mood. He felt heavy with the knowledge he had gained, at the same time he felt restless with the need to do something about it. But their only lead was the data they had retrieved - and those were cold trails - and the mysterious disc he had found in the leader’s pockets. It had to mean something; otherwise the man wouldn’t have carried it with him. Or maybe they were just grasping at straws.

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he noticed the man stumbling in front of his car too late. Tetsuya hit the brakes, but it was thanks to Akashi’s intervention that the car came to a stop in time. How he had done it, Tetsuya could not say, but one moment they were moving and the next they were standing still. The absence of inertia that should have come with a maneuver like that, left Tetsuya disoriented for a few seconds.

The man had fallen in his attempt to dodge the oncoming car and was now kneeling on the pavement.

Tetsuya unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the car, Akashi right behind him.

“Are you alright?” He carefully approached the stranger. Something was odd. He looked panicked and out of his mind. And somehow Tetsuya didn’t think they were the cause of it. The man had been running from something.

“He’s here.” The man panted, eyes wide. He pushed himself up, but stumbled and Tetsuya finally saw why. There was something wrong with the man’s leg. The knee was bent in an odd angle and Tetsuya felt bile rise at the mere sight of it. The man didn’t even seem to notice the pain, as he stumbled forward on his twisted leg.

“Kuroko,” Akashi said warningly, “we should-“ He didn’t even get to finish the sentence, before the man broke out into a panicked shriek and tried to hobble away even faster. The source of his fear had just walked out into the dim light of the street lamps.

“Don’t run. You are just making it harder on- Oh.” The man had just realized their presence. There was something odd about the man - and his reaction. It was hard to see in the dim light, but something about the man’s expression seemed sad. “You should not be here.” The man said quietly. This time there was no mistaking the regret in the man’s voice.

Tetsuya felt the hair on the back of his neck rise in response to the tension that had suddenly risen between them. Tetsuya shuddered. The street was deserted save for them, the houses around them dark and silent.

The first man hobbled away as fast as he could, but his twisted leg greatly hindered his progress. His face was twisted in a mixture of rage and fear, as he wheeled around and flung his arm at the attacker. A burst of lighting shot from his fingers, forked off in the air and hit the ground multiple time, barely missing the stranger. His panic seemed to swell at that.

The man sighed. “I told you that it’s pointless. You are only making it harder on yourself.” He took a step forward and into the cone of light that was cast by the car’s headlights. Tetsuya took in a sharp breath. That face, he had seen it before, he was sure of that. A memory tickled his brain, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

“Now this is…” He trailed off. There was something there - something _familiar_ \- more than just the face, the way he enunciated, pronounced - the melody of his voice. Tetsuya _knew_ this speech pattern, but it didn’t seem to fit the face at all. “…a true shame.” He murmured.

Akashi moved between Tetsuya and the man, stance outwardly relaxed, but to Tetsuya it was very obvious how tense he was.

“You don’t want to do this.” The man said. “Just walk away and I won’t harm you.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that.” Tetsuya said. If only the man would move a little bit closer. Then he would get a better look at his face.

“Of course you would say that, wouldn’t you? I don’t want to kill you. But if you insist on getting in the way...” For a moment his face seemed to flicker, like static on a television. Tetsuya thought it must have been a trick of light. And then it hit him where he had seen that face before. It had been on a picture, pinned to the front of a police report. The picture of a crime victim, killed by none other than the ability killer.

“I have no other choice. He has to die.”

“Leave me alone!” The other man snapped. “I didn’t do anything to _you_.”

“No, you didn’t. But that’s not the point.”

“Listen, I have money and I can pay you. You can even take my ability. That’s what you want, right?“ The man was shifting to his knees, looking up at the stranger with a pale, sweat-covered face.

“You and I both know it’s not that simple.” The stranger said with a note of regret. “You brought this on yourself.”

The man’s face contorted into a mask of rage and he spit at the stranger. “Go to hell, bastard.”

“I will. But you will pave the way.” Despite the soft voice, there was a casual efficiency in the way he flicked his wrist. The man let out a startled gasp as he was lifted up in the air by an invisible force. He flailed but he had no control over his position. The man let him hung upside down, rendering him essentially useless.

Gravity shift, the ability to disable gravity in selected areas - a unique ability possessed by one of the ability killer’s victims. Tetsuya felt cold, icy dread settle heavy in his stomach. They had always wondered what exactly the killer’s motive was, what his intention was in going after some of the strongest ability users in Tokyo. If this was it, they might as well all be screwed.

“You can still walk away.” The stranger said. “You might lose some sleep, but at least you will still be alive.”

Akashi slightly shifted, gauging for Tetsuya’s reaction. Something about that, Akashi’s passivity irked Tetsuya. But deep down he knew it was merely his frustration at being powerless. Akashi had no stake in this. His duty to Tetsuya was to protect him - nothing more.

“My answer still hasn’t change.” Tetsuya said, trying for calm. “I can’t let you kill this man.”

“And I can’t let you stop me.”

“Why are you doing this?” Tetsuya slowly moved forward. The man wore the face of a dead man, there was no way this was a natural occurrence. No, the man must be using an ability at the moment and if his ability was what Tetsuya suspected it to be, then Akashi was more at risk than him.

“Does it matter if you knew? You are going to die anyway. I’d rather not waste any more time.”

Tetsuya was next to Akashi now. Akashi was even tenser than before, not taking his eyes off the stranger even once. He shifted to block Tetsuya again, but Tetsuya stopped him with a touch to his elbow. Akashi froze and then marginally relaxed, but didn’t move to let him pass.

“We are two. You are just one. Don’t you think you are overestimating your skill just a bit?“ Despite what he had said, the man had yet to make another move. If only he could keep him distracted for a little while longer. Just until he got close enough for a clean shot.

The man looked directly at Tetsuya. “I’m sorry.” He said and it was such an incongruous thing - the man had sounded truly regretful - that it distracted Tetsuya long enough to be almost fatal.

The stranger threw himself into motion, and it was only thanks to all the endless hours of practice with Kagami that he was fast enough to block an otherwise grievously harmful attack. The stranger’s strength was formidable and Tetsuya’s wrist stung with the impact of it. The punch was followed by a faint concussion that Tetsuya _sensed_ rather than actually felt. Whatever magic the attack had carried in its wake, glanced off ineffectually off Tetsuya.

The man’s eyes widened in surprise and shock, but he caught himself fast. He disengaged, whirled on his feet and came back up with one of his arms transformed into a long metal blade. Tetsuya narrowly dodged and would have been speared by the man’s follow up attack, weren’t it for Akashi who caught the blade with his own bare hand. The metal melted back into skin seamlessly and this time the stranger took longer to recover from his shock.

The stranger fell back. There was something odd in his expression now, a keen sort of interest. The way he looked at Akashi had something of a hungry beast. “It’s a shame.” He said. “Now I really can’t let you go. That power you have, what is it?”

“Nothing you could ever hope to control.” Akashi responded calmly.

“We’ll see about that.” The man murmured almost to himself. He raised his hand, metal started to rise from under his skin and Tetsuya whipped up his gun and fired.

The man was good; Tetsuya had to give him that. Despite being caught off guard, he’d managed to dodge the bullet by what seemed to be a very impressive combination of at least three different abilities, one of which appeared to be some sort of time warping ability. Another power Tetsuya recognized from the files he read.

Before he could catch his feet again, Akashi was on him with incredible speed. The stranger blocked his attack by way of transforming his skin into arrays of raised metal scales, a trick that lasted about a millisecond before Akashi returned his skin to normal.

“Now I really want your power.” The man said, panting. His eyes were bright and filled with a sort of feverish glow. Sweat was pouring from his brows in rivulets, but none of that seemed to perturb him in the least. Tetsuya kept searching for an opening or even a crack in the man’s mask, but despite his exertion he kept his defenses up.

He spared a glance at Akashi who caught it and nodded. Just like that, they had coordinated. They moved as one. The man had one advantage over them. He could utilize long range attacks, while both Akashi and Tetsuya were bound to melee range. And the stranger fully utilized this advantage. He used a sort of short distance teleportation to place random objects in their way, bricks, pieces of concrete, even a whole street lamp at one point. He tried to suspend gravity around them once, but after Akashi undid it with little problems, he returned to hurtling objects. Akashi was largely unperturbed by this, as he merely corrected the objects’ reality to his favor, but Tetsuya had to physically dodge them.

And that was only the beginning.

Akashi altered the path of yet another piece of cement, broken right out of the street, which made the battlefield even harder to navigate, aiming it straight at the stranger’s head. He dodged, narrowly and then shot a bolt of lightning right at Akashi. It caught him off guard, hitting him in the chest full frontal and for a terrible moment Tetsuya thought it was over.

“Damn,” the stranger swore. “It’s harder than it looks.” Relief filled Tetsuya when he saw that Akashi was mostly unharmed. His shirt was singed and he could see some skin underneath that definitely looked red, but that seemed to be the worst of it. “It’s not fair of you to team up on me.” He complained. Another flick of his wrist and a car came hurtling at Tetsuya. He dropped, rolled to move under it, but was slowed marginally by his protesting body. It cost him the extra centimeter he would have needed to grab the man’s leg instead of his pants. The man jumped backwards instantly, ripping the fabric from Tetsuya’s grasp.

The man crouched. He was breathing hard, but there was still that feral glint in his eyes. Tetsuya himself was exhausted and very much at the end of his rope. He’d been through too much already and his body had yet to recover completely. Akashi was faring mildly better. Physically he seemed fine, but Tetsuya could see the tension lines around his eyes. But even he must be reaching his limits. The fight against the cultists had taken a lot from him and it showed.

And in the midst of all that, Tetsuya wondered what exactly had enabled Akashi to manipulate reality over a distance back then.

There was a brief reprieve in the battle then. Each of them was assessing the others, measuring their strength against their own. Tetsuya doubted he would be able to do much at this point. He was too exhausted.

The stranger drew himself up from his crouch. “I really didn’t want to do this.” The feral hunger was gone now, instead there was an exhaustive weariness in the man’s eyes. “I hate to leave unfinished business.” He threw a glance at the still suspended man. “But I’d rather not die here.”

“We won’t kill you.” Tetsuya had rolled to his feet. “But I will bring you to justice.”

“There is no justice for men like me.” The man said. “For what it’s worth,” He looked at Tetsuya and for a moment Tetsuya thought it wasn’t coincidence. The man was talking to him specifically. “I really am sorry.”With that he clapped his hands together.

Tetsuya had read all the files of the ability killer’s victims. That was how he knew exactly what was about to follow. His reaction wasn’t caused by anything more than pure, basic instinct.

He threw himself forward and at Akashi, wrapping his arms and legs around him in an attempt to cover as much of him as possible with his body. A moment later they were engulfed by raw magical energy, a vortex of power as the stranger collapsed the integrity of the magic field that surrounded them.

It was like a storm had been unleashed right on top of them. A storm consisting entirely of magical energy. Even though the magic glanced off him, he could still feel an echo of the power that had been unleashed. Tetsuya held on to Akashi, hoping that what little protection he could offer would be enough. It had to be enough. He felt his clothes tear under the onslaught, felt the world around them crumble as raw magic ripped everything to shreds. It was a truly odd sensation, to be in the middle of a violent storm, but feeling little more than a ghost of a touch.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, it was over.

Tetsuya gave himself a moment before untangling from Akashi. “Is Akashi-kun alright?”

Akashi seemed remarkably well for the wear. His clothes were mostly intact and except for his hair being a complete mess of tousled strands, he seemed fine. His eyes were bloodshot - a deeper red than before, and he seemed rather subdued. He nodded mutely.

Tetsuya stood on wobbly feet. He felt somewhat stupid. Of course Akashi could just adjust reality. He looked down at himself. His shirt was beyond saving, but his pants at least had put up some resistance. The attacker was gone without a trace.

Tetsuya felt so damn exhausted he could cry. He pulled out his phone - banged up but still functional - and placed yet another call to 119. The victim was dead, ripped to shreds and splattered all over the pavement. The sight would have turned his stomach any other time, but he’d seen too much in too short of a time.

When the call connected and a female voice prompted him to state his emergency he did almost cry. What was he even going to say? It was all too much, the events of the day were catching up with him and all he wanted was to curl into a ball and cry. He should have called the police instead of emergency services. What were they even going to do?

“Hello?” The woman prompted, “please state your emergency.” She urged again.

Tetsuya clenched his hand around the phone. He could feel the tears coming and there was nothing he could do.

Akashi gently pried the phone from Tetsuya’s hands and pressed it to his ear. Tetsuya listened to the calm and steady sound of his voice, feeling soothed by its surety. He needed to get himself together. He was the one in charge. But he couldn’t think of a single thing to do.

“Kuroko?” Akashi appeared in his vision, concern lining his face. Tetsuya hadn’t even noticed that the call ended.

“Don’t ask if I’m alright.” Tetsuya said. His voice was cracking.

Akashi nodded. “I won’t. The authorities will be here soon. They will want to question us, but if Kuroko doesn’t want to we can go home right now?”

Tetsuya laughed bitterly. “And how are we going to do that?” He gestured to the wreck that was his car.

“I will take care of it.” Akashi said firmly. He guided Tetsuya to what once was the passenger door. One touch and the car was restored to its old glory. Tetsuya could have screamed. Instead he just slumped into Akashi’s arms and let him help him into the passenger seat. Akashi got in the driver’s seat and started the car. He hadn’t even asked for the key.

Tetsuya covered his eyes with a hand. The urge to cry was still there, so was the urge to slam his head into the windshield, but he fended off both. “Wouldn’t it be convenient if Akashi-kun could revive the dead with his ability.” He didn’t make it sound like a question. It really wasn’t one. He felt like asking anyway.

“There are limits to what even I can do.” Akashi said. He sounded… sad. Like he was speaking from experience. Like he had tried.

Tetsuya was too far gone to care if he came off as rude. “Who died?”

There was a short pause. The passing street lights bounced off the shadows cast by Tetsuya’s palm over his eyes. He closed his eyes. Maybe if he just tried hard enough, he could will it all away. He felt something stir in his heart then, as though in response to his thoughts. For a moment it felt like he could really do it, eclipse the world with a mere thought.

“My mother.” Akashi said.

The feeling dispersed and Tetsuya slowly blinked his eyes open. Akashi was looking out at the street, but he wasn’t actually seeing. His eyes were drawn to something outside Tetsuya’s perception.

“I’m sorry.” He heard himself say. For what, he could not tell.

Akashi did not reply.


	12. Shigehiro V

It doesn’t change a thing. As much as Shigehiro wishes it would, as much as he desperately thinks they _need_ it to be changing things, it doesn’t.

Whatever debt Kuroko owes to Akashi, he is willing to pay it in blood.

“What now?” Shigehiro asks after they step out of Sesha’s hideout. The leaf they found in America is still there, frayed at the edges but still young enough to guide a vision, but without Sesha it is useless. It will be a while until Sesha will be able to read into Kuroko’s desired future again.

( _It’s complicated_ , she tells him and Shigehiro knows it’s a dismissal, but he also knows how fragile the thread is that Kuroko is weaving by sheer resolve. How highly attuned she has to be to even follow it. None of it would be possible if it weren’t for Kuroko’s single-minded conviction.)

(There’s a word for that, but Shigehiro looks at Kuroko and thinks it doesn’t even come close to it.)

“We will keep looking for _Nyama_.” Kuroko says. There is not a hint of doubt. To Kuroko it doesn’t matter what _Nyama_ are made of and Shigehiro desperately wishes it would be the same for him. So many things would be easier if he would just not care.

“How do we know where to look?” Shigehiro has made a list of observations, things that almost always seem to coincide whenever _Nyama_ are involved, but it is not nearly enough to pinpoint a new stone’s location. He doesn’t even know if the things he’s observed have anything to do with the stone or are just coincidence.

Kuroko looks at him with an indecipherable expression.

“Sesha is not going to be able to help us anytime soon. We need some sort of plan. I’d rather not start hopping all over the planet to look for a needle in a haystack.”

Shadows creep over his skin. The void is restless. It does Kuroko’s every bidding, but sometimes Shigehiro can’t help but think the void is its own being. It seems alive. Not a pleasant thought to have.

“That could be a problem.” Tetsuya allows after a moment’s consideration.

“And you haven’t thought of that until now?” Shigehiro asks incredulously. Usually Kuroko is more on top of things.

Kuroko looks at him with an odd expression Shigehiro has never seen on him before. “I was hoping to scour the most prolific ruby mines and gem markets for clues.”

Shigehiro exhales. That’s a far stretch from Kuroko’s usual preparedness. “Is it possible that Kuroko has no idea what to do from here on out?” He’d meant it as a joke, at least partially, but once the words are out he knows he’s hit the mark. Kuroko looks lost, almost helpless. Shigehiro sighs. “I guess I should have seen this coming.” He reaches out his hand.

For once it is Kuroko who stares at the offered hand before comprehension dawns. “Where to?” He asks after taking it.

Shigehiro wonders if he will ever get used to the sensation that comes with touching the void. “Home. I’m hungry. It’s about time I get some downtime. And we can figure out a plan.”

Kuroko doesn’t argue. A moment later they’ve slipped through the void and into the genkan of Kuroko’s Kyoto apartment.

Shigehiro plants Kuroko down on the couch and tells him to stay there while he goes to take a well needed shower. A bath would be nice, but he’d rather not stretch Kuroko’s patience too much. They’re not in a rush he had assured Kuroko before leaving him in the living room. Now that Sesha knows Schwarz’s signature she knows how to avoid him and without her, he’s as blind as they are. So he won’t be gaining an edge on them in the search for stones. And it’s not as though the stones could run from them.

He prepares a quick meal after and settles down at the coffee table to eat. Kuroko has his eyes closed, appearing asleep but Shigehiro knows better. Kuroko doesn’t sleep. The energy he feeds on - _life_ \- has erased every need for sustenance - regardless of what kind.

How many deaths fuel his life? It’s a question Shigehiro has pondered many times. He never asked. The answer would not change what he already knows. It is a simple thing really. If Kuroko has to feed on every life on this planet to bring Akashi back, he will do it. Shigehiro likes to think this is the true face of love and devotion, but sometimes he can’t help but wonder if it is actually worth it. Mabye he will have to meet Akashi to answer that question.

“What did you do, before you found Sesha?” Yes, that is a good point to start. Basics. Or so Shigehiro thinks while being perfectly aware that he has absolutely no idea what he is doing.

Kuroko opens his eyes. “Doing everything in my power to find her.”

“Huh?” Shigehiro pauses with his chop sticks halfway on the way to his mouth. “Are you saying you went right for a time weaver after…” He makes a circular gesture with his chop stick-wielding hand. Mentioning Akashi can have unpredictable results sometimes.

Kuroko sighs. “I did know I needed extreme means to get Akashi-kun back. I also knew that I had absolutely no idea how to go about that. So I figured if I could get someone who controls time I could simply undo what had been done.”

Shigehiro swallows his food. “I hadn’t even thought of that. But that didn’t work I guess?”

“Obviously. A time weaver weaves time into a tangible form. But just as the weaver does not define the thread that they weave, a time weaver can only work with what time has provided them with. Or so she tells me. It is not important. She couldn’t give me what I wanted and I…” Kuroko hesitates. His eyes are far away, drawn by memory. “I was angry. So very angry. I was still unused to my powers but I would have swallowed her and her powers. Even if there was the smallest chance she was lying. I would have done it and tore a hole in time itself to get what I wanted.”

Kuroko closes his eyes again. “But Sesha-san can’t lie. I knew so little back then, but I at least knew that. And I would have lost myself to despair then. But Sesha-san offered me an answer.” Kuroko smiled ruefully. “She said it might take forever. It might not even be enough to bring Akashi-kun back. After all-“ He cuts himself off. There is a short pause then, only interrupted by the sound of Shigehiro chewing. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do.” He finally says.

Shigehiro nods even though Kuroko can’t see him. He finishes his food in the remaining silence. Only when the bowl is empty does he speak again, “alright.” He nods. “So we don’t have a contingency plan. But I guess Sesha won’t be indisposed forever. She’ll be back at full strength, right?”

Kuroko makes a noncommittal noise in his throat.

“What about other time weavers? Ever thought of finding another one? There must be more than one.”

“Sesha-san is the most powerful of all weavers, simply by merit of being the oldest. It is how these things go. And even she can barely untangle the uncertainty of my future. If I were to be honest, there is nothing I could ever do to repay her. She has been neglecting her duty for my sake.”

“Her duty?”

“Ogiwara-kun, what does the word weaver imply?”

“Uh, weaving?”

“Yes. And have you seen any weaving at her home?”

Shigehiro rubs the back of his neck. “I thought it was just a figure of speech.”

“It is. In a manner. Time is fluent and only the past is determined. But the future is often influenced by the past. A time weaver watches over the tapestry of time, maintaining its integrity and adding new strands as time goes on. Sesha-san hasn’t done that in a long time. Or to be more precise, she has done it exclusively on my behalf. What you see only as darkness is in truth a tapestry. Not a literal tapestry but that is what comes closest as a metaphor. It is the entirety of time condensed into a tangible form. And Sesha-san has been reading it through the lens of my existence for decades. Despite what she may look like, she is not human. Change is not a welcome thing for any agent, even those of time.”

“So you’re saying you basically cause her a giant headache on a daily basis?”

Kuroko gives him a baleful stare. “You may say it like that.”

“Okay, so no other time weavers. That sucks, but we’re not totally out of options. We can trace the pattern of _Nyama_ appearances. It’s not much, but I guess it narrows down the search area.”

“You are referring to the high prevalence of _Nyama_ in areas where commonly rubies or garnets occur naturally? That is a good start indeed.”

“Not the best though.” Shigehiro thinks for a moment. “The real question is, where do star stones come from? And then, who keeps priming them? Wanting to be converted is one thing, but a stone is a stone and can’t walk around. So how does a star stone end up being transformed and near a ruby deposit?”

“The universe’s idea of a bad joke.”

Shigehiro sighs. “The true joke is that you have been doing this for decades and not once bothered to ask the right questions.”

Kuroko tilts his head. “Who says I never did?”

Shigehiro groans. “Are you telling me this is all pointless? What am I even trying to do here? If there’s a pattern, by all means, share it with the class.”

“It is not pointless.” Kuroko says firmly. “I have been entwined in this for a long time. It helps to get an outside perspective. Besides, I possess information now that I did not back when I tried to make my own sense of it.”

“That really doesn’t make me feel better, you know.”

“I apologize.” Kuroko says sincerely.

Shigehiro rubs the bridge of his nose. “Okay, ignore the whole time shenanigans for now. Let’s look at it from a different angle. Not everything can be solved with void powers. But there are other ways. I used to be good at finding things, information mostly, but the point still stands. Hell, I made a living out of it. It should be a piece of cake to find some lousy old stones.”

“Are you suggesting you look for the stones yourself?”

“No, that’s out of my league. You need connections for something like that. A network. Or I guess we can always hit up a seer and do some scrying.”

Kuroko actually frowns at that. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Of course not.” Shigehiro says with a sigh. “No offense, but magic is usually the last solution that comes to your mind. Not that I could blame you.”

“There was a time…” Kuroko shakes his head. “It does not matter now. It is a good thought.”

“But…?” Shigehiro raises his brows.

Kuroko looks at him. “Is there a but?”

Shigehiro shrugs. “There doesn’t have to be. But you sounded like there was one.”

“I feel as though there should be one.” Kuroko says quietly. “I feel that there are a lot of things I should have objected to. It is a feeling that follows me quite closely. I don’t think I have ever said this, but I owe Ogiwara-kun my gratitude.”

“Uh, okay? I’m not sure why though. I haven’t done much.”

Kuroko smiles. It’s a small smile, but fond all the same. “I am aware that I am…” He hesitates, struggling to find the right word. “Not morally capable,” is what he eventually settles on.

Shigehiro’s eyebrows venture to hit his hairline. “That is one way to put it.” He allows.

“I have done a lot of terrible things. I know that. But I don’t _feel_ it. The conclusion is drawn from observation and experience. It has served me well.” There is a note of sadness in his expression. “It has brought me along the path I am walking. But facing a man like Schwarz, it has reminded me of my moral obligation. My memories tell me, I used to be very morally upstanding, almost to the point of being annoying. I was the voice of reason,” a fond smile, dipped in memory. _Akashi_ , Shigehiro thinks. He catches glimpses of the man sometimes through Kuroko’s words or actions, but even after all this time, he has no clear image of him.

Kuroko stares into the distance, lost in his memories, before he finally pulls himself back to the surface. There’s sadness now, but that is almost normal. Shigehiro hasn’t heard the whole story yet, but one thing has always been glaringly obvious. Kuroko Tetsuya loves Akashi Seijuurou with all his heart - and not even the void in him could change that.

“It used to be important to me. I think it still is. Many emotions I used to have in the past, they are still there. But it is like I am looking at them through a nearly opaque window. They are there, but I can’t reach them. Some of it scares me. The things I have done.” He shakes his head. “Schwarz and I are not so different. I know it is wrong, but I do it anyway. What he did. I would do the same thing if I had to. And I know somewhere I feel regret about that. But I can’t reach there. Or maybe I don’t want to reach there. I’d rather wrap myself in the void, until the window turns opaque completely and I can no longer see what lies behind.”

Shigehiro thinks for a moment. Absolving Kuroko of his sins is not the right thing to do, he knows that. But he has learned early on that the world doesn’t consist of extremes only. There is no supreme evil at the end of the dungeon waiting for the heroes of light to come and fight it. There’s just humans and their little struggles and it would all be so insignificant if it weren’t for magic. Magic that can elevate one single man to the status of a God.

Religion was always just a lens through which humanity viewed the incomprehensible. But if there were a God or deity, Shigehiro thinks they would be like Kuroko. Aloof, untouchable and so very lonely and human at their core.

“You have no moral compass.” Shigehiro says. “That’s different from being evil.”

“Not in outcome.” Kuroko says.

“No,” Shigehiro agrees. “I would not deny that the blood on your hands is much the same than that on Schwarz’s. Life is precious. And we only get one of those. But I do not have to tell you that.”

Kuroko looks away. He doesn’t say anything.

“But the point is, without a moral compass, you have no way of knowing if what you do is right.”

“But I do-“

Shigehiro doesn’t let him finish. “You know from experience. I am not saying that this absolves you of anything. Knowing something is wrong and doing it anyway is just about the worst offense there is. But as I said, moral is a human concept. And it is just that. A concept. Depending on which great thinker you ask, they will give you an entirely different definition of morally good. I’m not an expert, but I can say that what I consider good and bad has largely been influenced by my upbringing. Later, I had to do what was necessary as opposed to what was right, I had to accept that these things are sometimes inevitable. Still, I tried to be as good as I could.” Shigehiro rubs his temples. “This doesn’t make any sense I guess, but what I’m trying to say is without a moral compass, how would you even know what is good and what isn’t.”

Kuroko looks thoughtful. “Saying it like this makes it seem that there is no true evil in this world. Those who have a moral compass will strive to live by it, while those who haven’t can’t be evil by definition.”

“I’m really not the right person to have a philosophical debate with. I just liked Kant’s teachings and then I read up on a few other philosophers. So don’t expect me to give you more than incoherent ramblings. The way I see it - and that’s really just the way I see it - there are those who want to be good and those who don’t. Possessing moral doesn’t make you good. Like a compass is all nice and it points you North but you don’t have to go North. You can go wherever you want. It’s the same with moral. And I guess Schwarz knows exactly what he’s doing is wrong. He just doesn’t care.”

Kuroko nods. “Then I guess it is like moral alignment. I am chaotic neutral, while Schwarz could be any of the evil alignments. Ogiwara-kun is neutral good.”

Shigehiro groans. “If you absolutely have to put it that way. Although I think I’m more true neutral. I try to be good, but I am not really succeeding. Where did you even get this from?”

A shadow flits across Kuroko’s face. “I used to have a friend who was very… passionate about character assessments. She had files on all of her friends with their moral alignments, zodiac signs, mbti test results and other analytic data, among other things.” Kuroko looks fond for a moment. “I used to be lawful good. Or so, she told me.”

Whoever this mystery woman is, she hasn’t yet made an appearance in Kuroko’s story. “It’s a bit rudimentary and restricted, but I guess it’s a good way to understand a character’s motivations.” Shigehiro says. “Although, to be honest I think Kuroko is none of the nine types. They’re all… I don’t know,” he waves a hand, “somewhat morally motivated. Even if it’s just a drive for freedom.” He shrugs. “As I said, I’m no expert. But Schwarz is a villain, if I have ever seen one. And Kuroko is just single-minded and has no comprehensive understanding of right or wrong.”

Shigehiro sighs and flops back onto the couch. “I should stop now. I am turning into the worst apologist ever. If I could I would take your comfy little apology-blanket you have wrapped around your heart and burn it. You deserve to confront what you have done.” He sighs again. “But that would be hypocritical of me.”

Kuroko inclines his head. “I am not a good person, aren’t I?”

“No, you are really not. But I kind of like you, so I am willing to overlook a lot of what you do and it is messing with my own moral integrity. But I guess I’m simply not as good as I always thought I was.”

Kuroko gives Shigehiro one of his almost smiles. The kind that’s all eyes but not really and maybe Shigehiro is just seeing things. “I am grateful that Ogiwara-kun is there to keep me balanced at least. It is something I could never dream of making up to him.”

“Well, this is the part where I should say that it’s nothing and everyone would do it. And that’s another thing about moral. It sometimes tells you pretty clearly what is right, but that doesn’t mean you like the option. It doesn’t mean it’s _easy_ and sometimes the right thing can turn out to be the worst possible option after all.

“Now, this is enough philosophy for one day. You don’t owe me a thing; I am here out of my own free will, so can we please go and find a seer?”

They do not go and find a seer. They’re too unreliable. It is not guaranteed that the seer will have a vision and there is no reason to count on unreliable means when there are other options.

Shigehiro hasn’t talked to Mochida Reiji in over twenty years. But theirs is the kind of friendship that lasts for decades - even without a single word spoken between them. At least, that’s what Shigehiro tells himself, when he leads Kuroko to their old hangout.

Coming to Tokyo after all these years feels weird. This used to be his world, an entire city and he’d felt like a king, but now he can see how small his pocket of the universe had been.

Now he has seen how truly large their world is.

Their hangout - if they could even call it that - is an old building - old already when Shigehiro still called it his home - on the outskirts of Tokyo in Machida. The house itself is rather small, sitting in the center of a large temple garden, a remnant of the time when deities still held meaning in this world.   Wards litter the place and the potency of magic that hangs in the air is palpable. Shigehiro feels his skin crawl with the sensation as the magic envelops him, probes him and sends out a distinct warning not to proceed. But before Shigehiro can decipher the message or the feeling that is woven into the magic, the entire magic web collapses as it comes into contact with Kuroko.

Shigehiro stops and heaves a sigh. He had forgotten about this special bit of magic up until a moment ago. The magic is harmless - at least it used to be and Shigehiro tries to ignore the worry that rises when he remembers the distinct bite the magic greeting had just now - more than that, it is its creator’s primary way of perceiving visitors. And now Kuroko had figuratively trampled his way onto the mage’s doorstep.

They approach the house. The door opens before they can reach it and a short woman in a yukata steps out. Her eyes are hidden behind a shawl she has wrapped around her head. Small bells are woven into the hem of her obi and her hair, jingling at every motion she makes. She pauses in the doorway, one hand braced against the worn wood as she tests the air for visitors.

“Shinku,” Shigehiro greets from a respectable distance.

Shinku sniffs the air as though to taste his words on her tongue. She turns her head towards him. Her hands, Shigehiro notes, are tapping out a faint rhythm against the doorframe. He can’t say if it’s a nervous habit or… something else.

“Shige,” she says eventually. “I did not expect to ever see you again.” Her finger has stopped tapping, and she lets her hand sink to her side. She turns her head slightly as though looking for something. As though she knows Kuoko is there but she can’t sense him. He should not have brought Kuroko with him.

“It is good to see you, Shinku.” Shigehiro says with real warmth.

“You too.” She says after a long pause. “We thought you were dead or worse.”

Shigehiro tries a smile, tries to let it bleed into his words so she knows, but he doesn’t feel like smiling. “What could be worse than death?”

She makes a low sound, displeased. “What have you brought here?” She asks accusingly.

“Apologies, Shinku-san. I was not aware that there was magic warding your garden.” Kuroko says in his usual monotone. He has taken a step forward and bows in deference. To Shigehiro the gesture seems flat and dishonest, like something staged.

Shinku finally settles her face on Kuroko’s direction. “I find that hard to believe. I take extra care to make it as obvious as possible,” she says eventually. Her voice has an odd tone to it, guarded, something Shigehiro has never heard from her before.

Kuroko’s expression is as smooth and inscrutable as ever. “It is as I say, all the same.”

“Is that so? And who are you?”

“My name is Kuroko Tetsuya. I am a friend of Ogiwara-kun’s.”

Shinku considers him for a moment. “You are special no doubt. I can smell it. Now, you might as well come in. There is no point in standing around outside now that the wards are broken.” She seems wary as she speaks, almost as though she’s scared.

Shigehiro has a bad feeling. The Shinku he knew was fearless, tempered by her ability to see beyond the veil. The Shinku he knew wouldn’t have touched the old Buddha statue for luck they passed when walking towards the house.

Shinku invites them to sit down in her living room and she offers them tea. But the whole time, Shigehiro can’t shake the feeling that she is waiting for them to leave. Her movements are slow as she feels around her house - as though the place has lost its familiarity. She hasn’t said anything when Kuroko entered, but they all could feel the collapse of yet another magical web.

“How have you been?” Shigehiro asks to break the awkward silence. The house interior hasn’t changed much. The same odd mismatched furniture, the same trinkets lying around. The same smell of herbs and magic lingering in the air. And Shinku - Shinku _seems_ the same but Shigehiro can tell that she has changed. It is hard to see with the blindfold in place but her face has aged. She lacks the spring in her step, the bright twinkle to her voice whenever she speaks. Shinku has become old.

Shinku’s face twists into a grimace for the barest of moments. She regains her composure moments later, smiling, but even without seeing her eyes Shigehiro can tell it is fake. “I’m alive.” She says. “I would say that constitutes as well around these parts.”

Shigehiro swallows. He wants to ask what happened, but he feels like there’s a wall between them. A wall of twenty-two years of silence. He and Mochida had been friends. He and Shinku had been acquaintances forged by necessity.

“Why did you come here?” Shinku asks warily. She sounds tired, worn. “After all this time, why now?” _Why at all_ , seems to shadow her words in silence.

Shigehiro puts down his cup. “I am looking for Mochida.”

Shinku laughs. It is a dry sound, jagged and broken as though someone had shattered the finely tuned glass instrument that Shigehiro remembers to be her laughter. “You are too late. Reiji is dead.”Her voice drips with bitterness and accusation. Shigehiro almost reels back from the venom.

The world is shaking. He can’t quite wrap his head around what Shinku said. Mochida can’t be dead. “How?” He forces out the word, but it tastes like bile on his tongue.

Shinku’s lips twitch, but it is not a smile that threatens to show. “He tried to clean up the mess you left, that’s how.”

“What do you mean?” Shigehiro asks. He’s grateful that Kuroko has contended himself with silence for the time being. He’s also grateful that Shinku can’t see how tightly his hands are clenched, that all she has to go on right now is the frozen stillness of his voice.

Shinku scoffs. “Did it never occur to you that the White Snakes would not be thrilled about the way you left things with them?”

“I didn’t leave anything with them. I-” Shigehiro is interrupted by Shinku’s angry snarl.

“They were all dead, Shige. Not just the Snakes. But Midori too. And apparently someone had seen you go in there before, but you were gone. And everyone else was dead. _We thought_ _you were dead_. But that wasn’t good enough for _them_.”

There is a moment’s pause, Shigehiro struggling in vain to form words. He’d never thought about the consequences of that day. Too much had happened and he had been swept into an entirely new world.

“You were out.” She snaps. “If nothing else, we could understand why you would want a life for yourself. Reiji was _happy_ for you. And then you hopped right back in like it was nothing. Like the peace you got - the peace we couldn’t have because we had to protect _yours_ \- was worth nothing to you.” She is almost shouting now, hands clenched around her own cup - an old chipped thing. Her bells jingle madly, like a chorus to her anger.

Shigehiro tries to comprehend her words, but they make no sense. “What do you mean?”

“There is no out, Shige. People like us, like you and your tidy little network of spies - it never ends. You left right when you were the most powerful. Who do you think stepped in to fill the vaccum? You think people would just accept when their most reliable intelligence agent steps down? You think they would not fight for the scraps of what you left? So Reiji took over, because _someone_ had to pay for your freedom. So what do you think happened when you re-appeared only to make a mess? Who do you think had to clean up after you?”

Shigehiro clenches his teeth. He tries to stay calm but it is hard when all he wants is to shout at Shinku to make sense. “I don’t understand.” He grounds out.

Shinku scoffs again. “That’s always been your problem Shige. You don’t see things for what they are.”

“And what are they really? Tell me, Shinku.”

“Tell your friend to leave.” She says.

“Shinku-“

“Just out the door. He can’t be in the room.” Her lips twist into an ugly sneer. “I would hate for the vision to get distorted.”

“It is alright, Ogiwara-kun.” Kuroko says quietly. There is an expression in his eyes that scares Shigehiro for a reason he can’t name. “I’ll be outside.”

“This is a favor you will never be able to repay.” She says, once Kuroko is gone. “You can make an attempt by leaving and never returning.”

Shigehiro opens his mouth, but the words die when he sees what Shinku is doing. She unties the shawl around her head, lets it fall into her lap. Her eyes are closed, but already the immediate surroundings are shifting. Grey bleeds into some of the colors, like life draining away. The veil to the world _beyond_ is lifting. Shinku holds out her hand and after a moment of hesitation, he takes it.

She opens her eyes and the world washes away in shades of grey. Shigehiro fights the nausea that threatens at the sudden shift of visuals, but the confusion and everything comes to a very sudden and violent stop when he lays eyes on the person next to Shinku. A person that’s faintly translucent and washed in the same dull grey as their surroundings.

“Hello Shige.” Mochida Reiji says with a smile that is equal parts sad and happy.

Shigehiro can only stare. “Rei…ji?” His voice is hoarse, disbelieving. He hasn’t yet wrapped his head around the fact that his friend is really dead, but now here he is, a blurred after image of what once was a vibrant young man. His grip on Shinku’s hand loosens without his doing and Mochida flickers, as though he’s fused to a light switch. Shinku’s knuckles dig painfully into the meat of his palm as a reminder to not let go.

“Live and in color.” Mochida says.

Shigehiro can’t help the fond laughter that bubbles up, even as he feels like crying any moment.

“Well, not really.” Mochida shrugs. “You look good.” There’s warmth in Mochida’s eyes and voice - real warmth - and it is an odd juxtaposition to the cold that clings to this world. Mochida moves closer, his ghostly apparition unhindered by the physical barrier that is the sofa. He leans over Shigehiro with the same ignorance of personal space he’s had in life. “Wow,” he says with real awe. “You look like you haven’t aged one bit. Have you seen that, Shinku?”

“What do you think?” Shinku bites out and Mochida laughs.

“I forgot.” Shinku remains silent, but her hand is clenched tightly around Shigehiro’s. Mochida, he notes, is floating a few centimeters above ground. “It is good to see you, Shige.” Mochida says. He looks so fond, as if they were finally reunited after a long time spent apart. As if this wasn’t just temporary.

Shigehiro’s vision blurs with tears. “Ah Shige, don’t cry.” Mochida says with a helpless laugh.

“I’m sorry, Rei.” Shigehiro says. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Mochida says softly. “Don’t ever think it was your fault.”

“But I wasn’t there, Rei. I don’t even know what happened. You’re dead and I-I…” _was too busy chasing ghosts with an immortal being to look back and see what I’ve left behind_. He’d thought he would do good. But what point was there when he hadn’t even known that his best friend was dead? Mochida looked young, the way Shigehiro remembered him the last time they saw each other. Maybe a few years older.

And he’d been gone all this time.

Something cool ghosts over his skin. Shigehiro wipes away the tears to see and finds himself enveloped in a ghostly hug. “You’re alive, that’s all that matters.” Mochida says with a lopsided grin. Shigehiro has a feeling he would be crying if ghosts could cry. “I would do it all over again, if it means Shige gets to live.”

“How-“ Shigehiro’s voice breaks and he has to try multiple times until it finally obeys him. “How did you die?”

Mochida pulls back some, eyes sad behind the veil of death that clings to him like a cover of cobwebs. “You don’t need to know that.” He says softly and his voice sounds so far, far away. Shigehiro works his throat but the words won’t come. How can he ask for something like this? “It is not your fault.”

“Is it true?” Shigehiro’s voice cracks, but he forces the onslaught of tears down. “Did you protect me? Did you buy my way out?” He’d been so proud of himself. He had taken great care to tie up all loose ends, to make sure he had no unfinished business. And then he’d done his best to erase all traces of his existence. But he hadn’t done a really good job of it, had he now? He’d wanted to stay in contact with his old friends. The truth was, anyone could have found him with a bit of effort. He’d just assumed no one would bother.

“I did.” Mochida says.

“Who…?”

“No one. I merely took your spot and offered the same services. It wasn’t anything big or risky. Shinku wouldn’t have let me do it otherwise.”

“But something went wrong.” Shigehiro searches his face, but Mochida gives little away. At least, that’s what Shigehiro used to think. But now - after years of dragging Kuroko’s thoughts from the mask of his inscrutable expression, he can see beyond Mochida’s so easily.

“They wanted you to find me, didn’t they?” Shigehiro says after a while. “After what happened at Fortune Ramen. And you refused” He doesn’t need more of a reply than the sad expression that crosses Mochida’s eyes. And he doesn’t need to ask to know that the cause was a small innocuous stone that looks like a ruby. The thought almost makes him laugh. That means Mochida has been dead for almost as long as Shigehiro had been on his little adventure.

Shinku clears her throat. “We do not have much time, now that Shige’s _friend_ has broken all the anchors.”

“And yet you invited him in.” Mochida says lightly.

“It was what you wanted.” Shinku counters evenly.

“What are you talking about?” Shigehiro asks.

“What do you think happens to a ghost after it resides on the astral plane? What happens to _every_ ghost after a time?” Shinku says, voice cold and clipped.

“Don’t be mean, Shinku.” Mochida says, placating. “It is not Shige’s fault that I made the choice that I did. I would have made the same choice for you.” There’s pain in the lines around Shinku’s lips, but her eyes betray nothing in their milky white depths.

She sighs. Her tone sounds marginally warmer, when she continues, “The dead are supposed to pass on. To where, I do not now. I believe it is the void, but Reiji insists it is something more.” Her smile is almost fond now, as though the argument she is recalling is a well-worn routine of comfort. “But Reiji insisted on staying behind. Unfinished business, as they say.”

“Unfinished business?” Shigehiro turns to Mochida with surprise. “As in regrets?”

“Not a regret.” Mochida says. “Not in the actual sense. I simply didn’t want to leave without having talked to Shige one last time.”

Shigehiro’s eyes are misting again. Shinku stares at the table, the grey of the astral plane around them wavers as she reins in tears of her own.

“Normally, a ghost would just disappear after a few years. There’s nothing to hold us here. But Shinku has kept me anchored.”

“You couldn’t have known that I would come.” Shigehiro says. His voice is shaking.

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t even know if Shige was alive for a while.”

“I’m sorry.” He says in a voice that desperately wants to break.

Mochida runs a hand through his hair, the way he used to when he was exasperated. “I figured out you were alive eventually. It was quite entertaining to watch you.”

Shigehiro shakes his head. “I kept you waiting.”

“I wasn’t lonely. I knew that chances were slim you’d actually show your face with how busy you are. But I figured I’d wait. And if you wouldn’t show up before Shinku bites it, then I wouldn’t have lost anything. I would fade like anyone else. And wherever ghosts go, you would have shown up there eventually.”

“Remind me why I put up with you.” Shinku asks exasperated.

Mochida grins. “Because you love me.”

Shinku looks at him, really _looks_ with her dead, white eyes and then says, serious now, “No, I really don’t.”

Mochida seems to falter for a moment, but then catches himself. He turns back to Shigehiro. Shinku stares down at the table. She looks old now, older than her actual years. Like an old woman who has been worn down by the burden of time.

“That doesn’t make it better.” Shigehiro says. “Now I’m just some asshole who comes when it’s convenient.”

“And that is fine as well. I was watching, Shige. I know what you’ve been doing. There is no shame in that.” He smiles and then sighs. “I hate having to say this, but Shinku is right. We don’t have much time. I know it is not much and I know it is never that easy, but Shige, promise me. Don’t blame yourself for this. To see you now, to know you are alive. It was all worth it. If I would have the chance to relive my life, I would do it all over again.”

Shigehiro can no longer hold back the tears. He bursts into ugly sobs. One hand is still linked with Shinku so he has only one free to wipe at his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I should have never left. I should have never tried to get out. Not when this is the price. I’m sorry, Rei.”

“And there you go. Didn’t you listen to what I just said? You think I like to hear that you think it was all worthless? I died for you. The least you can do is accept that.” Shigehiro hiccups, the tears startled dry by Mochida’s sudden harsh tone. He stares at him with wet eyes.

“Besides, I don’t believe that for a second.” Mochida says, softer now, gentle. “Look at you, Shige. You haven’t aged a day.”

“Hanging around a time weaver does that.” Shigehiro says with a weak attempt at a laugh. “I didn’t even notice at first. But if it’s long life, it’s not what I would have wanted in exchange.”

“Maybe not life. But time.” Mochida replies. “I can see the ripples, Shige. Everything we do leaves ripples. Most are small and insignificant. But yours.” Mochida seems awed. “I wouldn’t have to lie to say your friend is scary. He cuts through the world like a knife.” Mochida lifts his hand as though to grasp something. It takes Shigehiro a moment to realize he’s indicating the spot Kuroko has sat on before.

“Whatever that power of his is, it absorbs everything it comes into contact with. Well, everything that exists on my plane and beyond. It’s like he’s feeding off magic and spiritual energy.”

“You wouldn’t be too far off with that.” Shigehiro admits. “He controls void. Or at least that’s what it’s supposed to be. It eats his emotions as well. Or blocks them. It’s…” Shigehiro shakes his head. “Sometimes I don’t think he’s human.”

Mochida seems paler now, more translucent. Like he is losing substance. Shigehiro feels another bout of tears coming. Everything seems so pointless now. “Can it be done?” He asks, because Mochida is the only one who might know for sure. “Can the dead be brought back to life?”

“It is possible. I’ve heard… whispers of it.” Mochida says. His voice has an odd echo trailing after it, as though he is speaking from far away.

Shigehiro closes his eyes. “There’s these stones. They hold the power of life, I could-“

“No,” Mochida’s voice is firm. “It is too late for me. My body has long decomposed. There is nothing I could return to. Besides, I’ve been dead for twenty years. I don’t even remember how to live.”

“What about-“ Shigehiro cuts himself off. He had been about to ask about Akashi - who had been dead for decades - but there is no point. The path they follow has been drawn by Kuroko’s conviction and the _possibility_ of Akashi’s revival. Whatever it takes, it has taken Kuroko decades to get where he is. Whatever it is, he would never volunteer it to resurrect a stranger.

“I have no regrets.” Mochida says softly. “I got to see you one last time. And I had Shinku to keep me company.” He smiles. “And I can help you with one last thing.

Shigehiro can’t quite hide his surprise. “With what?”

“You came here because you were looking for something, isn’t that so?”

Shigehiro swallows, “yes, but you don’t-.”

Mochida speaks right over him. “There is nothing I can do to find them for you.” He seems sad. “My time is running out. But the dead whisper, Shige. They come and go like leaves in a breeze, but the whispers stay. I’ve been here longer than most and the whispers were already old when I died.”

Shigehiro listens with baited breath. With every word Mochida seems to fade more and more. He wants to tell him to be quiet, to preserve what little strength he has left, but no words come over his lips.

“There is a presence that transcends the borders between this side of the veil and yours. It is hard to explain and I have never met her. But she _knows_ things, Shige. Not like magically knows things, but she can find out anything. It doesn’t matter what it is, she can find it out. If anyone can find your stones, it is her.”

“Where can I find her?”

“She resides in Fukuoka.” Mochida gives him the address. “But there is something you need to know about her. She’s different. The whispers say she has been dead for decades, but I don’t know if that is true. It’s not an easy feat to accomplish, even with an anchor. Whatever she is, I doubt it’s human.”

“Thank you, Rei.” He falters then. “Is it okay?” He whispers. “To continue on this path? Am I really doing the right thing?”

“I don’t know, Shige. There is no right or wrong in this world. I can’t say if this will lead somewhere good for you. Maybe your friend’s power will swallow us all one day. Maybe it will just disappear. The future is not a fixed path.”

“No, it isn’t.” He says and thinks of Sesha and the strands she hasn’t woven in decades.

“I don’t know, Shige.” Mochida repeats. “You’ve kept him in balance so far. That’s worth something.” Mochida hesitates for a moment. “Regardless of what you do Shige, know that I always love you.”

Air catches in Shigehiro’s throat. He can’t grasp at the magnitude of what Mochida just said. It seems too unreal, too much like the result of a fevered dream. Shigehiro feels feverish.

Mochida is fading rapidly now, unraveling at the seams, as his substance - what little was left - slowly dissipates. “Shinku,” he says and turns to look at her, “You’ve always been a bad liar. That’s what I liked about you.”

Shinku’s eyes widen and then she presses them close. Shigehiro can see tears spill from under her lashes. But there’s no time to figure out what just passed between them. Mochida is fading so fast now. Shigehiro can see the wall behind him in almost perfect clarity.

“Goodbye, Shige.” Mochida whispers. And then he is gone.

“Goodbye.” Shigehiro says into the silence of the room. Shinku’s hand has slipped from his and color has returned to the world. Shinku is openly crying now, hands clenching in front of her tear-streaked face.

“I’m sorry.” He says to her sobbing form. She doesn’t react. Shigehiro wants to reach out to her; she was once his friend too. But he remembers what she said to him and how the biggest favor he can to for her is leave. And so he does.

Kuroko waits outside, patient as if all this means nothing to him. It doesn’t.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Kuroko says. It would hurt less if he didn’t sound as though he meant it. What had he done that a monster like Kuroko Tetsuya considers him a friend?

Words dance on the tip of his tongue. All the anger and helpless emotions he’s felt whenever he’s faced with the vast insurmountable power that Kuroko holds between his hands. When he had to face off against this power, begging Kuroko to hold off and not add another name to the list. The times he failed. The times he didn’t and still felt like losing.

Mochida’s face as he smiled and told him he loves him.

He says none of it. Instead he says, “I have our answer” With that, he turns and walks away from the last place that had truly felt like home to him.


	13. Tetsuya VIII

Tetsuya stared at the phone in his hand. They were at home - safe space? maybe – he didn’t _feel_ safe. He couldn’t remember much of the drive here, only empty streets and empty thoughts.

He should call Aida and report, but his fingers wouldn’t move to dial. So much had happened. Tetsuya’s hands were shaking and he put the phone down. Later, he told himself, even as he knew there would be no later. He had no words to describe what happened. He would have no words, even if he waited a lifetime.

Tetsuya jumped when the phone rang. For a moment he thought it was Aida and all he could do was stare at the device before he realized the number was someone else’s. His hands were still shaking but he pressed the receive button all the same.

“Kurokocchi,” was the excited greeting and Tetsuya allowed himself a moment to breathe. Kise could be a handful and was generally annoying, but something about his blithe and carefree nature was soothing to Tetsuya’s frayed nerves.

“Hello, Kise-kun,” he said flatly.

“Kurokocchi I am so glad you picked up the phone. Are you all right?” Kise excitedly asked, ignoring Tetsuya’s less than interested response - as was the rule between them. “I heard there was a huuuuge accident in Koto. The whole street blew up or something.”

Tetsuya suppressed a sigh. He hadn’t thought the news would travel this fast. “I live at the other side of Tokyo.” Tetsuya said in lieu of a direct response. He didn’t want to tell Kise that he had in fact been there. Knowing Kise, he would blow up into space with worry.

“I know.” Kise wailed. Tetsuya could imagine him flapping his hands. “But someone saw a car there? Like you own a car, don’t you?”

“As do about fifty percent of Tokyo citizens.” Tetsuya said patiently. The city of Tokyo had undertaken a large scale remodeling of the inner city’s infrastructure to reduce car traffic and replace it instead with short-range molecule displacement. Not that Tetsuya could ever use this method.

“But you actually drive yours.” Kise insisted, only to change directions a moment later, “I just wanted to make sure Kurokocchi is all right. You tend to get yourself into trouble.” He said sagely. “How’s Kagamicchi?”

Kise’s rapid shift of conversation topics made Tetsuya’s head spin and he finally gave in to the urge to flop onto his bed. He had been too tired yesterday when they arrived home to do much else but fall flat on his face the moment he reached his bed. Not even his damp clothes had managed to keep him awake. As a result, he felt like he’d been through the wringer today, but at least Akashi had offered some relief by rubbing more ointment into his kin.

“I… don’t know.” Tetsuya admitted. He hadn’t had contact with anyone from his unit throughout the last days. A grave neglect on his part.

“Eh? But aren’t you his partner?”

“That is correct Kise-kun. But I have been rather busy.” It sounded a lot like an excuse and Tetsuya resolved to visit Kagami as soon as possible. With that in mind, he really should inform Aida of their run in with the killer. Especially when the accident had already made the news.

Tetsuya turned his phone to speaker and put it down on the pillow next to him. He opened his messenger to send Aida a quick summary of the past day’s event.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Kise said cheerfully. “Kurokocchi should visit him soon.”

“I will.”

“Say Kurokocchi, why have you been busy lately? Is it that case you’ve been talking about?”

Tetsuya hummed. Aida would likely want to call to get more details, but for now the short message would have to be enough. He added a line to ask her not to worry before pressing send. While doing that, he was only half listening to Kise. “Yes, that is mostly the reason.”

“Is that case the reason Kagamicchi is in the hospital?” Kise asked.

Tetsuya flopped on his back after turning the speaker off. He had told Kise about Kagami’s ‘accident’ because they were friends, but he had spared on the details.

“Yes,” he said tiredly.

“Kurokocchi should be careful then. If even Kagamicchi got knocked out… If there is anything I can do to help, Kurokocchi will let me know, right? Kagamicchi is my friend too, you know.”

“Kise-kun is a _model_.” Tetsuya pointed out.

“Eh? What does this have to do with anything? I can still help. Even if only by listening?” Tetsuya didn’t know what it was, maybe the hopeful tone in Kise’s voice. Or maybe he was just so damn tired of muddling through everything by himself. He wasn’t supposed to, but Kise had always been a good friend.

So Tetsuya told him. Not everything and in bare detail, but even like this, it felt like an immense relief to share his burden. He left out the part with the ability killer though – he still felt too raw to even think about that. “I don’t know what to do.” He confessed at the end of it. “All of this is bigger than anticipated. And all I have to show is this disc that makes no sense.”

“That sounds tough Kurokocchi,” Kise said with genuine affection. “But I am sure Kurokocchi will solve it.”

“I am not so sure myself.” Tetsuya said. “I…” He swallowed. “I miss Aomine-kun sometimes. But more than that I miss Kagami-kun.”

“What about, ah what was his name again? Kurokocchi’s bodyguard.”

“Akashi-kun is… helpful.” But also infuriatingly enigmatic and-

Even his own thoughts faltered at the attempt to give voice to his confusion. There was an undeniable pull between him and Akashi. He wanted to know more, wanted to know who Akashi was beyond the façade he showed to the world. But that was a path that had no feasible end.

“That’s good then?” Kise sounded very much doubtful. Tetsuya couldn’t blame him.

“Akashi-kun is not supposed to help me crack the case.” Tetsuya explained. “He is my bodyguard.”

“But Kurokocchi can’t just do anything on his own, can he? What was Aidacchi thinking?”

“I don’t know.” Tetsuya said honestly. He had wondered that himself a few times. But maybe Aida had simply not expected something of this scope. As if on cue, his phone vibrated with an incoming message.

“I wish I could help Kurokocchi.” Kise mused while Tetsuya rolled on his side to get a better look at his phone screen. He flipped back to speaker.

**To: Kuroko Tetsuya**

**From: Chief Aida**

**Subject: case**

**Keep on it. Kagami will be discharged tomorrow. He’ll back you up. Sorry, that’s all I can do for now.**

Tetsuya frowned at the message. He had expected more. But he couldn’t deny the relief he felt that he didn’t have to give Aida a verbal report. He didn’t know if he could bear to relive everything so soon after. He ignored the thought that if he couldn’t do it now, he might never be able to.

“Kurokocchi, are you listening?”

“Ah, apologies Kise-kun. What were you saying?”

He could hear Kise sigh at the other end. “Really Kurokocchi, you need to take better care of yourself.” He sounded worried. “I was saying that you should maybe ask Aominecchi to help you with that disc thing? I think he could use the distraction.”

“Have you talked to him?” Tetsuya ignored the rest of the sentence for now. Asking Aomine for help was not a bad idea, but… it wasn’t a good idea either.

“I did. He promised to play some one-on-one’s with me soon.”

Tetsuya couldn’t help but feel a wave of relief at that. “That is good then.”

“It is, right? I was kinda worried for a while. I mean he’s all holed up and stuff with, ah, you know. But I’m sure he’ll feel better when we play a bit. He hasn’t touched a basketball in _months_ , can you believe it?”

“It is not surprising.” Tetsuya said carefully.

“But it is _Aominecchi_.”

His phone buzzed again. This time it was from Kagami.

**To: Kuroko Tetsuya**

**From: Kagami-kun**

**Subject: yo**

**heard from Aida the shit that happened ill be there from Monday sorry doctor said I need a few more days rest if it’s urgent i can ignore them…**

Tetsuya thought not for the first time that it would be nice for Kagami to use actual punctuation, but it was more fond than annoyed. He was just glad that Kagami seemed fine. Although, he also felt guilty for not keeping in touch. He’d had no idea that Kagami was about to be discharged. He should have guessed though. Kagami had always boasted an almost super-human resilience.

“Even so,” he said to Kise, “it is no surprise that Aomine-kun didn’t feel up to it. Kagami-kun tried to drag him out a few times, but he would only ever watch.”

“Eh? Does that mean I am special?”

“Kise-kun is narcissistic.” Tetsuya deadpanned. He typed up a reply to Kagami.

**To: Kagami-kun**

**From: Kuroko Tetsuya**

**Subject: Please don’t**

**ignore what the doctor said. I can be fine for a few more days. Kagami-kun’s recovery is much more important.**

“So mean, Kurokocchi.”

“I have merely stated an observation.” Tetsuya said.

“Anyway, I’ve been meaning to tell you. My manager thinks that my career is going to take off overseas as well and…”

Tetsuya drowned out Kise’s rant about his model job on reflex. It was a pleasant background noise, but actually listening was way too tedious. Kise could go on for hours. At least he did not require any verbal responses.

**To: Kuroko Tetsuya**

**From: Kagami-kun**

**Subject: if ur sure**

**just tell me if u need help k? im bored outta my skull and these bastards need an ass kicking also tell ur bodyguard if he screws ill screw him**

Tetsuya stared at the message for a moment, uncomprehending. Very carefully, he separated his thoughts from the mental image that popped up of Kagami literally screwing Akashi. This was not the time nor place. Unwelcome mental image aside, he appreciated the sentiment.

**To: Kagami-kun**

**From: Kuroko Tetsuya**

**Subject: I will be fine**

**Please just get your rest, Kagami-kun. Akashi-kun and I can handle it.**

He ended his conversation with Kise soon after, reminding him once more to be careful. Kise’s ability allowed him to copy other people’s abilities - not something the ability killer would have much interest in when he could _steal_ their ability - but he preferred to err on the side of caution.

Tetsuya still felt like he had been rolled over by a boulder, but at least he now had a vague idea of what to do.

Aomine Daiki had once been the rising star of the SIU - a promising agent with unparalleled with unparalleled alchemic talent and ability with high expectations piled on his shoulders. He had been Tetsuya’s first partner and much of the reason he had gotten as far as he had.

Aomine did not possess an ability and had no magic talent to speak of, but his alchemy skills were one of a kind. No one could hold a candle to him in that regard. He’d had an almost perfect track record of solved cases and his reputation preceded him by at least a continent.

Despite all of that, Aomine had retired at age 24.

There was the barest amount of hesitation before Tetsuya rung the doorbell to Aomine’s apartment. Bad things kept happening around him ever since he took up the case and there was a reason Aomine was no longer in service. He was not about to drag him back in, but Tetsuya was desperate and out of options.

He could not decipher the disc, not could Akashi and he had a feeling that they absolutely needed to know what was on it.

There was a prolonged period of silence - long enough to make him think Aomine wasn’t home after all - before the door opened. “Tetsu.” Honest surprise was sounding in his voice. It took a moment and was a far cry from the wide, open grins Tetsuya remembered, but he did smile genuinely.

“Hello Aomine-kun,” Tetsuya said with a warm smile of his own. Aomine looked… good. He’d been a wreck after what happened. Aomine was tall, even taller than Kagami, but where his current partner was burning red, Aomine was a deep blue. He had tan skin, as though he spent a lot of time in the sun, but Tetsuya knew that Aomine rarely ever left the house.

They’d all been worried. Especially when he announced his retirement. Aida had argued, but in the end she couldn’t convince Aomine. Tetsuya had… He had wanted to argue - to ask his friend not to abandon what _she_ would have wanted for him, but he had never found the strength to actually say it. Not when face with the raw grief in Aomine.

He had promised to stay in touch - _we are friends aren’t we?_ \- but he hadn’t upheld this promise as much as he wanted to. Aomine was reluctant to leave the house and Tetsuya had soon learned that there were more things than ghosts that could haunt you.

Aomine was slightly frowning as he looked from Tetsuya to Akashi, who had kept a polite distance. He hadn’t yet invited them in. “What are you doing here?”

“I would like to say I wanted to visit Aomine-kun.” Tetsuya said honestly. “But I am afraid there are further circumstances and I need Aomine-kun’s help.”

Aomine’s frown deepened. He shot another glance at Akashi, before finally stepping aside to let them in. “Sorry, it’s a bit of a mess.” Aomine said, sounding entirely uncaring about it.

Tetsuya could have cared more about the mess that was Aomine’s home. He’d had his work spread through the entire house, half finished gadgets, devices of unknown function and a whole lot of scribbled notes, covering every available surface. He’d always thrived in chaos more than in order.

“It’s good to see you,” Tetsuya said earnestly. Aomine just grunted and waved towards the couch - currently drowning in blueprints and half-finished sketches of alchemistic circles. “Tea? I think I have it somewhere.”

“That would be nice, yes.” Tetsuya gingerly collected the sheets of paper into a pile and deposited it on the coffee table to make room for them.

Aomine looked at Akashi who merely shook his head. Aomine shrugged and disappeared into the kitchen.

“How’s…” The words seemed to resist his tongue but Tetsuya forced them out anyway. “How’s Momoi-san?”

There was a pause in the clatter of kitchenware. And then, “Good. Wanna see her?”

Tetsuya swallowed. He wanted to say no, because no matter how much time passed, he could never get used to… that.

Aomine kept talking. “She’s upstairs, taking a nap. Women, I tell you. She’s not even tired, but apparently it’s for _beauty_.” Tetsuya could almost hear the eye roll. There was something constricting his throat; he didn’t trust his voice so he merely hummed in acknowledgment. He could sense Akashi’s eyes on him, but he kept staring at the kitchen entrance.

“I can wake her, if you want?” Aomine said as he emerged from the kitchen with two cups of steaming tea. “Uh sorry, I kinda made two outta reflex. You don’t have to drink it.” He said to Akashi and put down the cups, uncaringly shoving the blueprints and schematics off the table. Tetsuya suppressed a wince.

“It’s fine,” he said. “Let Momoi-san sleep.”

“Nah, I got to wake her soon anyway. She hates oversleeping.” Aomine sat down into his favorite arm chair - the only piece of furniture that was always free of clutter - and threw his legs up on the coffee table, rattling the cups. Tetsuya quickly saved his from spilling. “Anyway, who’s that? New partner? What happened to Bakagami? He hasn’t screwed up, has he?”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that. This is actually the reason why we are here. Kagami-kun got injured during an attack.”

Aomine’s eyebrows rose. “Huh? I always knew that idiot was incompetent.”

“Please don’t be mean, Aomine-kun. Kagami-kun protected me.”

“Heh, at least he wasn’t completely useless.”

“Aomine-kun,” Tetsuya said warningly.

“Yeah, yeah I’ll be good. You could have someone worse for a partner. At least Bakagami can be a decent shield.” Tetsuya withheld a sigh. This was as much as a compliment Aomine was likely to give. He and Kagami had been rivals during police school and while they could get along if they absolutely had to, it was more like cat and dog most of the time. “So, is this going to be a long story or what? If so, I’ll get Satsuki. She’ll be mad else.”

“It is a long story.” Tetsuya said, this time he did sigh. “I am not supposed to tell anyone.” He added meekly.

“Yeah, no. I’m gonna want details before I help you.” Aomine stood with a grin and ruffled Tetsuya’s hair as he walked past. For a while it had seemed Aomine would never recover. When he finally had seemed to regain some of his former spirit, they had all been relieved. Until they found out the reason.

Sometimes, Tetsuya couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it.

“This is going to seem really weird.” Tetsuya said as he put down his emptied cup. Akashi had listened quietly so far, but his eyes held that spark of interest. “Please don’t comment on it. Just…” He hesitated. _Saying_ it just drove home how messed up it was. “Play along, please?”

“What exactly are we talking about?” Akashi asked.

Tetsuya sighed. “It’s another long story. Aomine-kun, he-“ Tetsuya faltered. It seemed wrong to say it within these walls. To make it a reality in the save haven Aomine had built himself. “I’ll explain later,” was what he settled on, just as Aomine came trudging back into the living room.

In his hands he held a doll, a lifelike image of the late Momoi Satsuki - Aomine’s childhood friend, fiancé and reason he had laid his dreams of becoming a cop to rest. He had crafted her himself, in painstaking process, working her real meat and bones into the mold, as well as her hair. How he’d had gotten his hands on either was anyone’s guess. Even downsized to a doll, it was remarkable how much she looked like Momoi. Her hair was a soft shade of pink, her eyes a few shades darker. Her features were fine and hauntingly reminiscent of the live Momoi.

But that wasn’t even the worst part.

Gently, as though she could break any second, Aomine settled Momoi in her chair - a small handcrafted replica of Momoi’s old favorite reading chair. “Tetsu’s here.” He said softly, an expression in his eyes that made Tetsuya’s throat clog up. She’d been a beauty in life, but now she was only a shell of what was once the sweetest girl he’d ever known.

Akashi made a choked noise, maybe surprise, maybe shock, when the doll - infinitely slow - turned her head to look at Tetsuya out of big, unblinking pink eyes. Her mouth worked slowly, struggling with every word. “Hel…lo, Tet…su-kun.” There was the faintest twitch of what Tetsuya knew was meant to be a smile. The look in Momoi’s doll-eyes was void of anything resembling emotions.

“Hello Momoi-san.” Tetsuya said, almost choking on the words.

He had asked her, once, if this was what she really wanted. Her soul bound to a doll by blood and she had _looked_ at him - unsmiling, without any expression - but he had seen her face before his inner eye so clearly as if it was right there in front of him. _How could I leave Dai-chan?_ she had said in her slow struggling way of speech.

“It’s nice to see you.” She said slowly, always so slow. Aomine had once told him that he’d tried to build her vocal chords, but that it hadn’t worked without lungs and he couldn’t do lungs, not yet, but he was getting there and then Momoi would be able to speak without struggle… There had been a faraway look in his eyes and a glimpse of the pain that had set all this into motion.

Tetsuya attempted a smile, even as he felt his eyes burn with unshed tears. But he wouldn’t cry. Not in front of Momoi who had already lost too much. Even if it was just pretend.

“So what’s this thing you need help with, Tetsu?” Aomine had sat back down into his chair. He threw up his legs but paused midway, casting a wary glance towards Momoi before slowly setting them down again.

Slowly, _slowly_ Momoi turned her head to look at Tetsuya. Her eyes were wide and dead and empty - painted glass. But she could see. He knew she could.

He waited until she had finished her motion, before he started his explanation. He kept it short, but added more details than he had given Kise. He tried not to _think_ while he was speaking but the images came anyway. There was a frown on Aomine’s face that deepened with every word until it had become a full blown scowl.

“That’s some fucked up shit.” Aomine said with a shake of his head. “Makes me want to get right out of retirement.”

“Dai-chan…” Momoi chided.

“Yeah, yeah. I know I promised. I won’t go back. Sorry Tetsu, but if its manpower you want I can’t give that to you.” Aomine said apologetically.

For a moment, Tetsuya thought he saw a trace of sadness on Momoi’s doll-face. But that was impossible. “I know,” he said to Aomine. “That is not what I came for. But I was hoping Aomine-kun could maybe decipher this?” He pulled out the disc they had picked up in the hideout.

Aomine whistled through his teeth. “Haven’t seen any of these babies in a long time.” He took it from Tetsuya’s fingers, eyes bright with excitement.

“What is it?”

“They’re called mnemonic discs or something. They contain a person’s memory. It’s crazy shit. Like super complex alchemy.” He stared at the disc with a mix of awe and excitement, like a child that had been given the go at his birthday presents. “Let me just run some quick tests and I can tell you…” He was already up and walking, not bothering to actually finish his sentence.

“Typical Dai-chan,” Momoi muttered. Tetsuya would never get used to how broken Momoi’s voice sounded. There was an awkward silence following Aomine’s departure. Tetsuya didn’t know where to look.

“Tetsu-kun…” Momoi eventually said. She sounded… sad.

“I’m sorry Momoi-san,” Tetsuya blurted before he could think.

“I know you don’t like this.” She said. Her eyes were wide and unblinking and even now the sight sent chills down Tetsuya’s back.

“That’s not it.” Tetsuya said slowly, acutely aware of Akashi’s presence. “It’s just…” He struggled to find the right words. “This is not fair to Momoi-san.” He eventually said.

“It isn’t.” She quietly agreed. “But it is nonetheless what I want. Even if that is selfish of me.”

“It’s not selfish,” Tetsuya said, choking on his voice. “Momoi-san deserves so much more.”

“But that is life, isn’t it? I didn’t want to leave Dai-chan alone. And here I am. That is more than so many others get. Even if it is like this. I love him Tetsu-kun. Even if that means I have to play pretend. If it makes Dai-chan happy, it is worth it.”

Tetsuya swallowed down the tears that were rising. It would only upset Momoi if he cried. He couldn’t even imagine how life must be for her.

He reached for his tea cup to settle his nerves, only then remembering that he had already emptied it. After a moment of hesitation, he reached for the second cup, but paused before taking it. “May I?” he asked Akashi.

“Of course,” Akashi said. His voice sounded uncharacteristically soft.

The tea was lukewarm, but Tetsuya drank it anyway. It felt good to wash away the bitter taste of grief.

“Oi Tetsu,” Aomine called from his work room. “You might wanna see this.” Tetsuya put down his cup and stood.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

Aomine was bent over his work desk, peering at the brass disc in his hands. He didn’t look up when Tetsuya entered.

“What is it, Aomine-kun?”

“Come here, Tetsu.” Aomine gestured with his hand. “See these runes here?” He drew his fingers along the small runes that lined the outside of the disc. They were mirrored in small along the inside ring. “Look what happens when I do this.” He took a pinch of blue powder from a small jar and dusted in over the runes. The runes started glowing faintly. Before his eyes, the runes shifted, realigned themselves into a complete different sequence,

“What…?”

“It’s code.” Aomine said excitedly. “Encoded memories. I didn’t even know that was possible. These discs are just storage space you know? You save your memories on them and anyone can read them out, as long as they know how obviously. But _this_.” The glow had faded and the runes were back to their original sequence. Aomine used a brush to wipe away residual powder. “I tried to read it.” He pointed to a pair of brass goggles on a pile of books, with a large metal attachment at one side. It looked as though it had been put together from many different parts, making for a rather mismatched piece of equipment. But that was how Aomine worked.

“Here, I’ll show you.” Aomine picked up the goggles and handed them over. They were surprisingly heavy in Tetsuya’s hands.

“Aomine-kun,” he said with a sigh, “that won’t work on me.”

“Huh? Oh, right. I totally forgot.” He rubbed the back of his neck and took the goggles back from Tetsuya. “That kinda sucks.”

Tetsuya gave him a baleful look. It wasn’t as though he could help it.

“Right sorry. So anyway, there’s this beach scene. Like super HD beach scene. Normally, memories are kinda hazy cause that’s how the brain works. Like only the details that are important stand out, but not the background or ambient stuff. It can be a real trip sometimes. But this is like a movie. Shot in full HD, complete with sensual records. Like you can feel the wind and stuff. And it’s only the _decoy_.”

“A decoy?”

“Yes. You know like someone would record their holiday memories because it was so great. That kind of thing. But why would a crazy cultist leader carry around his holiday memories? That’s why I tried around with some reveal spells. So the beach scene is just a decoy, a false memory constructed to hide what’s really on this disc.”

“Can Aomine-kun decode it?”

Aomine shrugged. “Sure. It’ll take a while though. I’ve never seen something like this before. But it shouldn’t be too hard. A few days give or take.”

That was not as fast as he had hoped, but Tetsuya supposed the best he could expect regarding the circumstances. “Thank you, Aomine-kun.” He said earnestly.

“It’s nothing. I was itching for a challenge. Being cooped in the house all day’s gotta take its toll at some point.”

“I heard Kise-kun managed to convince Aomine-kun to play a one-on-one.” Tetsuya said carefully. He was staring at the disc now lying on the table, avoiding Aomine’s eyes.

“Yeah. It was either that or listening to him have a full blown breakdown. Besides, it’s time I put him back in his place. I can’t let him think he can beat me just because I took a bit of a break.”

“Aomine-kun should ask Kagami-kun as well. He’s been itching for a real challenge.”

“Heh, maybe Kise and Kagami should team up. That would give me something to work for.”

“Please don’t overdo it, Aomine-kun,” Tetsuya said.

“As if I could. Satsuki would just nag me to death. But I’ll ask Bakagami for a one-on-one. He’s been bothering me since forever. Maybe that’ll shut him up.”

Tetsuya tried to keep his voice even. “Aomine-kun’s friends are worried.” _I am worried_. “It is unusual for Aomine-kun to ignore basketball for this long.” Despite what he had told Kise earlier, he had been pretty much right.

“Basketball just didn’t seem the same since, you know.” Aomine shrugged, but the gesture seemed somewhat helpless.

“Aomine-kun has come far to say that.”

“I love basketball, don’t get me wrong. But it was never gonna be the solution. If I had wanted that I had gone pro. And we both know I have the skill to back it up. But that’s not what I wanted from life. And now,” he shrugged again, “it’s a hobby, but that’s all to it. There’s more important stuff to do.” He gestured to one side of the room that was entirely dedicated to rebuilding Momoi. There were clay pots, plastic molds and plenty of other tools.

Tetsuya didn’t reply. Everything he could have said to this would have only been hurtful. Despite what Momoi said, despite what he knew was the most shattering experience Aomine had ever had, he couldn’t help but feel it was wrong.

Aomine caught on all the same. “I know you think I’m nuts.” He was staring down at his work table, where he had scratched spells and runes into the worn wood when he had run out of paper. He traced one of the spells with his finger, almost reverently.

Tetsuya opened his mouth to disagree, but Aomine beat him to it. “I know it’s crazy. I keep her here, when she should be…” He shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know, elsewhere. Wherever the dead go. But I can’t let her go. It’s selfish, but-” There were tears welling in his eyes. Tetsuya felt the familiar urge to comfort, but just like all the times before, he didn’t know how.

Aomine swallowed, visibly struggled with his tears before taking a deep breath. “I never told this to anyone, but she-“ He swallowed again, “she called me. I didn’t think any of it, I thought she wanted to remind me of doing the laundry or some shit like that. But that wasn’t what it was about at all. She told me she loved me. It was the first time she ever did. I always sorta knew, but she had never said it out lout, not like this. I knew something was wrong then and I asked her what, but she just said she was sorry. That she hadn’t said it sooner.”

Aomine took a shuddering breath. “I still remember it Tetsu. Word for word. I couldn’t understand what was going on and she just kept apologizing. And then the call disconnected. I-“ Aomine squeezed his eyes shut, grasping for strength. “I checked the time of the call and the time of the a-accident. She’d been dead instantly, the doctor told me. Dead the moment the other car hit her. But the call- It happened after. A few minutes after the crash. She called me while already dead.”

Aomine buried his face in his hands. “I couldn’t just leave it at that. If she could call me that meant that she - part of her - had to be somewhere still. I remembered reading up on souls and stuff and I figured that if the soul is a thing - and it had to be, how else could she have called me? - that it had to be possible. I broke into the morgue that night and stole parts of her, mixed it with some clay and slapped the seal on. I didn’t know if it had worked until I formed the complete doll, gave her a mouth and all. But when she moved that first time, I knew I had done the right thing. She wasn’t- It wasn’t fair that she died this young.”

Tetsuya swallowed. The words sounded as though Aomine had sat on them forever, like a huge weight bearing down on him.

There was nothing he could say to that, so Tetsuya did the only thing he could think of. He moved to wrap his arms around Aomine. He couldn’t do this at the funeral, because of his own pain and later it had just seemed wrong to offer his shallow comfort when Aomine’s pain was so deep. But now it seemed just right to wrap him up in his arms and offer what little he had.

There was a rather odd atmosphere, when they returned to the living room. Akashi was staring out the window. And Momoi just sat there, motionless. Somehow, Tetsuya had a feeling that something had happened but he couldn’t say what it was.

“Tell Bakagami I’m gonna polish the court with his ass the next time.”

“Kagami-kun is still recovering. Please take mercy on him, Aomine-kun.”

“Heh, that’s not what you said earlier. Besides, he would kick my ass if I ever took him lightly.”

Tetsuya sighed fondly. “It was good to see you again, Aomine-kun.” If both their eyes were a bit red rimmed, neither one of them would mention it.

“You too, Tetsu. You should come around more often. Satsuki misses you as well.” It lay on his tongue to say they should come visit him, but he bit the impulse down.

“I will.” He said instead and smiled.

“Anyway, I’m gonna take a look at the disc and give you a call as soon as I have it.”

“Thank you, Aomine-kun.”

“Don’t mention it.” Aomine ruffled a hand through his hair. He still didn’t like it, but he couldn’t help but feel relief at how much better Aomine was now. He had missed his friend. More than he had allowed himself to admit.

“It was good to see you too, Momoi-san.” He said to the motionless doll. She turned her head with the same jerky motion as usual.

“You too, Tetsu-kun.” She said.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Momoi-san.” Akashi said smoothly and then - to everyone’s surprise - picked up Momoi’s tiny hand and bent to place a soft kiss on it. Momoi made a startled noise, like rattling nails. Akashi let go of her hand and there was something odd in the way it sunk back down into her lap. But Tetsuya could not pinpoint what it was.

“Thanks for dropping by.” Aomine said. “Next time, bring Kagami and we can play.”

“Apparently basketball is more than just a hobby, after all.” Tetsuya said drily.

“Oh, shut up. I’ll give you a call.” Aomine said fondly.

“Do that.”

“You know, I’ve been missing going out on a job with you. I would go and help you in a heartbeat, but I promised.”

“I know. I understand.”

Aomine lived in relative close distance to Tetsuya so for once they had left the car at home. Walking was a bit of a chore with his stiff body, but Tetsuya felt a bit too shaken to brave another car ride.

Tetsuya wanted to ask about the kiss, but he couldn’t quite find the right words. It had been harmless and good natured, yet he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something had flown right over his head.

“Momoi-san died in an accident.” Tetsuya eventually said, feeling that he owed an explanation at least. “Aomine-kun was my partner at the time. They had been engaged and planned to marry. Her death upset him greatly.”

Akashi looked at him, a curious sort of interest in his eyes. “How did he manage?” He didn’t have to explain what he was referring to.

“I don’t know.” Tetsuya felt tears welling up or maybe it was hysteric laughter. He could not say. “Apparently he bound her soul with a blood seal. But that’s not something that should even be _possible_.” He had wondered about this for so many sleepless nights. If souls existed, what did that mean for the afterlife, for death as a concept? And if they could linger, on what plane did they stay that ordinary humans could not see them? Maybe the people who claimed to see the dead were not lying after all.

“The soul very much exists,” Akashi said as though he had heard Tetsuya’s thoughts.

Tetsuya stared at him, trying to gauge if this was perchance a joke. But Akashi’s face was inscrutable and therefore serious.

“Is it so hard to believe that it does?” Akashi asked mildly.

“Not exactly.” Tetsuya said slowly. “I merely assumed… is the existence of a soul not an indicator of a life after death?”

“What if it were?” Akashi asked softly.

Tetsuya had no answer to that. There was Momoi - irrefutable proof that _something_ existed beyond one’s mortal shell. But it wasn’t as though he could ask her. She had been through enough already. She deserved her peace.

“Is it?” Tetsuya replied.

Akashi’s smile was sad. “There is no _life_ after death, merely existence. Sometimes I see glimpses of it, but it is merely a peek through a curtain crack. I can’t say what lies beyond. But I can say one thing. Souls do not linger. It is not in their nature. That Momoi was able to hold on for as long as she did is a testimony to both her indomitable will and Aomine’s skill.”

“What else is there beyond our universe that we do not know? What other lies are taught? And why? Why bother denying the existence of anything spiritual?”

“Hubris.” Akashi said simply. “Magic gives us control over almost all aspects of reality. Everything that does not conform may as well not exist.”

“But Aomine-kun was able to bind Momoi-san’s soul.”

“Yes, and is that not a tragedy in its finest form?”

“I don’t understand.”

Akashi turned his head to look at Tetsuya. There was something infinitely gentle in his eyes, an expression Tetsuya had never before seen on him. “There is not one absolute truth out there. Even what men like Azuki know to be truth is merely one side of a multi-facetted coin. Magic has always existed, but our understanding of it is very young. What we believe today is still relic of what scholars 200 years ago thought to be true.”

“And each day we learn something new.” Tetsuya added solemnly.

“To live is to learn. Sad be the day that has no more lessons to offer.”

“If all of that is true, then what is reality? We watch the world through a human-shaped lens, suiting it to ourselves. But how can we ever assume what we see is real? What if Akashi-kun’s reality is just another distorted image?”

“Who knows?” Akashi mused. “But there is no way of determining the answer. And is there really a point in trying?”

“What if we are all dreaming?” Tetsuya countered.

“Then our reality would be that of a dream. Or our dream would be reality. Whichever way you look at it, it makes little difference to the reality we perceive.”

“If we were dreaming, we could wake up.” Tetsuya pointed out. “So it does make a difference.”

“This is a tale that can be spun endlessly.”

“So what is the answer? That it doesn’t matter?”

“Would it make a difference if you would know the answer?”

“That depends on the answer.”

“I can’t tell you what reality is. I am merely skimming the surface. Even when I change it, I am merely influencing my perception of what is. And through the power of magic that perception becomes the new reality. So maybe the answer is that reality is determined by our perception of it?”

Tetsuya rubbed a hand over his eyes. “This all is needlessly complicated. But I suppose Akashi-kun is right with one thing. It doesn’t matter much.“

“To quest for answers is a commendable effort. But one has to know when the answer holds no worth beyond its inherent curious gratification. There is no fault in trying, however. As long as more important matters are not neglected.”

“Akashi-kun is very wise for his age.”

“I would not call it wise,” Akashi said with a wistful note to his voice, “I merely had a lot of time on my hands. A lot of time and a lot of books.”

“That sounds lonely.” The words were out before Tetsuya could stop them.

For a moment he thought Akashi would deflect like he’d done so many times before. But he didn’t. “It was,” he said instead. “My head, it is not a good place to be most of the time. I do tend to put the most pressure on myself, as well as criticize the harshest when I do not live up to my own expectations.”

“So it is true that Tateyama’s claim of therapeutic support is mostly false.”

“Make that entirely. I met a therapist only once and that was to assess that I was unfit to be released upon society.” Akashi’s lips twitched into what was a rather wry smile. “Standard diagnosis within the facility. My father, of course, was very disappointed but very hopeful for my recovery.” Akashi grimaced. “He donated a large sum to support my treatment, but I sincerely doubt he expected me to get better. On the contrary, he certainly hoped I would remain there forever. A certifiably insane heir can be replaced with little fuss. I expect I already have a baby sibling, probably two, just to be safe. Ah, I am sorry. I did not mean to unload all of that.”

“It is all right. If Akashi-kun needs someone to talk, or even just listen, I would be pleased to be of assistance.”

Akashi’s step faltered and he came to a halt just next to the opening into an alleyway. The surprise on his face was genuine and unmistakably. He caught himself a moment later; schooling his expression back to the calm mask Tetsuya was so used to. “That is a most generous offer,” he said. “But I do not wish to burden Kuroko.”

“It is not a burden.” Tetsuya insisted quietly

Akashi made to start walking again, but Tetsuya didn’t follow. They stared at each other past the open alleyway. “We are not friends.” Akashi softly reminded.

“So?” Tetsuya inclined his head. “We very well could be. I am friends with both my previous as well as my current partner. There is no collar in our way now. We are equals, as much as we’ll ever be. If Akashi-kun does not want to be friends, I will accept that. But do not drag circumstances into the argument.” This, Tetsuya realized, was very much something he wanted to happen. He could not say how or why it happened. But he did want to be Akashi’s friend.

Akashi stared, the way he looked at something that was a puzzle he was intent to solve. And then, slowly, his face broke into a tentative smile. “Then it would be my honor to call Kuroko my friend.”

Before Tetsuya could reply they were interrupted by a lone figure stumbling out of the dark alley. Tetsuya had a horrible sense of déjà-vu at the sight and that feeling intensified when he realized it was Kise.

Kise caught himself against the nearest house wall, face covered in sweat and breathing heavily. The relief on his face was immense when he recognized them. “Kurokocchi, thank goodness. The killer, he’s after me.”


	14. Shigehiro VI

The address Mochida has given them is an antique and used book store in Fukuoka. A rather quaint place compared to the metropolises Shigehiro is used to frequent. The bookstore is squeezed in between a bakery and one of those cozy, old fashioned craft stores where one can get everything from enchanted knitting needles to singing teapots. A true treasure trove and Shigehiro has half a mind to pay it a visit once they’re done. He still regrets not buying the onion-soothing knife that one time.

A bright bell chimes when Shigehiro pushes the door open. Inside, the store is dimly lit and dust motes dance in the beams of sunlight that stream in through the open door. The smell of ancient books is heavy in the air and Shigehiro feels an instant connection to this place. It may be old fashioned, but this is a place where knowledge is treasured.

The whole store is filled to the brim with books, shelves line the walls and build up rows in the middle, each of them is filled to the ceiling with books. Books are piled on every flat surface, including the wooden desk that serves as a counter. The only thing inside that isn’t a book or built from wood is a fine porcelain doll sitting on an elevated chair behind the desk.

It is a beautiful doll, dressed in a fine silk dress, glossy pink hair and skin so smooth it seems real. But it’s her eyes that make a shiver run down Shigehiro’s spine. They seem to look right through him. He shakes the feeling off and walks further into the shop in search for an attendant.

“Hello?” He calls hesitantly. There had been no opening hours posted outside, but the door wouldn’t have been open if the shop were closed, right?

A choked noise from behind him causes Shigehiro to turn back around to the front. Kuroko is leaning forwards, palms braced in a white-knuckled grip on the edge of the desk and right in front of him, on a pile of books stands the doll. Shigehiro’s mouth drops open.

“Momoi-san,” it is little more than a breath - a soft exhale of syllables, dipped in reverence and shock. Kuroko’s shoulders are tense and seem very close to shaking.

“Hello, Tetsu-kun.” The doll says in a voice so clear it reminds him of the bell’s chime.

Kuroko visibly struggles with himself, as emotions break open on his face. “How…?” The question is struggling to contain all the facets of Kuroko’s shock.

The doll tilts her head. Momoi, her name is Momoi. A sinking feeling manifests itself in Shigehiro’s gut. He _knows_ that name from Kuroko’s tale. But it can’t be the same, can it? She smiles and the motion is so smooth as though driven by muscles and sinews rather than clay and brittle magic.

“I could ask you the same.” She says. She blinks and for a moment Shigehiro thinks he sees traces of wet in her eyes. He shakes off the sense of _wrong_ that clings to him persistently.

Kuroko swallows. His grip on the desk’s edge seems to increase in strength, bulging up the knuckles until Shigehiro can see the outline of connecting muscles.

“Tetsu-kun has always been special.” Momoi says. She sounds calm. Calmer than Kuroko looks in any case, but even in her voice there is a strain of barely contained emotion. This is a reunion Shigehiro feels he has no business being privy too. But he can’t quite bring himself to move away.

“Did Aomine-kun…?” Kuroko is deflecting. Shigehiro knows he is, Momoi likely does too. But her expression remains soft, almost tender.

“Dai-chan was remarkable,” she says it with only a hint of pain in her voice, “but he could not bend matter to his will.”

“Not matter, reality.” Kuroko says and his voice sounds hollow.

“Does it make a difference? It was something Dai-chan could have never done. But I am surprised he never told you.”

“Neither did Momoi-san or Aomine-kun.” Kuroko returns. The tone of his voice sends shivers down Shigehiro’s spine and he quickly steps forward to remind Kuroko of his presence. Momoi’s eyes flicker to him - sharp, is the word that comes to his mind, like a knife - before she settles them back on Kuroko.

“I hid it from Dai-chan at first,” she confesses. “After what happened to Ki-chan… And then he got some of his spirit back when he went with you and Kagamin.” She smiles ruefully. “I was scared it was temporary. I couldn’t have born to see his heart broken a second time. When I finally told him, you had already…” Her smile is sad and Shigehiro wants to ask what had happened but the words stay locked in his throat. This is not her secret to share, so he doesn’t ask.

“Why?” Kuroko asks, he sounds choked, even as his eyes seem to layer over with ice. Shigehiro wonders what Kuroko is angrier about, that he did it or that he never told him.

“Because he loved you, even then.” She says it as though it’s a simple truth. As if it really is that simple.

“That’s…” But the words won’t come. Kuroko’s mouth works, but whatever it is he wants to say, it doesn’t come.

“Tetsu-kun knew him better than I did. Why did he do any of the things he did? Because he wanted to. And why would he want to help a mere stranger, if not for the one that is dear to him?”

“But this isn’t fair.” Kuroko says. The pain in his voice is an old one, Shigehiro can tell. He’s heard it before - dimmed - when he had told the story of Momoi Satsuki for the first time.

“It isn’t,” Momoi agrees. “It never was. Me dying was not fair. Dai-chan having to deal with my death was not fair. I did not ask him for it. I would have never asked for it. Because him having that power was not fair either. But I am grateful all the same. Dai-chan… he would never have released me from this body. Maybe when he lay dying and I was still but an incomplete shell, he would have let me go. But until then I would have remained a broken vessel. Even if it forces me into this existence, even if it means I’ll never die, I am grateful to Akashi Seijuurou. Because it allowed me to spend time with the one I hold dearest.”

Now her eyes definitely glisten wet. “It allowed me to _feel_ him.”

The magnitude of what she just said seems to hit Kuroko at full force. His hands slip from the vise-grip they had on the desk.

“Tetsu-kun of all people should understand the sentiment.” She says, firmer now. The moment of emotional turmoil seems over, even if Kuroko still looks like he’s reeling. The tension slowly dissolves as Kuroko’s shoulders finally loose the tight tension.

Kuroko doesn’t reply, but they all know the answer anyway. The silence that unfolds then, seems to bear heavily on them, so Shigehiro makes u his mind.

“Okay, now that this is out of the way,” whatever _this_ is. “I’d like to get this straight and I’m kind of failing? So Momoi-san,” Shigehiro _attempts_ to nod his head, but it ends up being more like an awkward half bow in the end, “has been voodoo’ed into a doll and thanks to _your_ ,” his voice is absolutely not accusing, no, “lover, she can now walk and talk like a real boy, uh, girl?” Conjuring Pinocchio parallels is _not_ a good idea.

Momoi’s stare is brutal. Pink irises and all, it seems to pierce right through him. For a moment he thinks she’s about to come at him, but then her face smoothens into one of the most beatific, sweet smiles he’s ever seen. “It is an honor to meet you Shige-kun.” She says.

“Uh, likewise?” He’s not exactly surprised that she knows who he is, more that she is so casual about it. He flounders for a moment with what to call her, before settling on a rather awkward “Momoi-san.”

“There is no need to be this formal,” she says lightly. “Any friend of Tetsu-kun is my friend as well.”

“Uh, we are not…” It’s almost reflex that has him say the words, but he finds he can’t finish them. They’re not friends, is what he’s always told himself. But that’s not something he can go on believing. Even if that has always made it easier. “I mean, uh, sure. Satsuki-chan?” Even if it makes him feel like he crossed a line that was never meant to be crossed.

There is a knowing glint in Momoi’s eyes, even as she hides her giggle behind her hand. “It’s been a while since someone called me by my first name. It makes me feel young again.”

“Ah Satsuki-chan has held herself well for her age.” Shigehiro quips and Momoi shoot shim a playful glare.

“Careful, Shige-kun.” She warns with amusement in her face. A part of Shigehiro is still baffled how easily human she seems in a doll’s body.

Quietly, Kuroko clears his throat. “As good as it is to see you Momoi-san, there is a reason we came.”

Momoi flips from playful to serious in a matter of milliseconds. Shigehiro thinks there is even a trace of sadness. “There is no reason to be this formal.” Kuroko gives no verbal response and Momoi sighs. “I suppose this is how it is always going to be. But I understand.” Her smile is sharp. “Of all the time we have, there is not enough of it to reminisce.”

Kuroko looks away but doesn’t reply.

Momoi huffs. “Would you be so kind and close the shop, Shige-kun?” She asks without looking at him. Shigehiro takes the key she points him to and goes to do as he’s bid. Somehow the atmosphere has turned odd.

“I’m sorry,” Kuroko says quietly behind him. He doesn’t think he was meant to hear but the shop is so quiet, speech travels, even over the rustle of a turning lock.

“For what?” Momoi says softly. “For not having enough time?”

Silence. Shigehiro’s hand pauses over the cardboard ‘open’ sign. He stares outside as a bicyclist drives past. A beat that seems to last forever.

“For never looking back.”

“There was nothing to see. It has always been _him_ for you.”

“Not back then.”

“But back then it didn’t matter. There was nothing you could have done. I would have done the same in your stead, Tetsu-kun. Dai-chan _has done the same_. If anything, I should be mad you never came to us for help. Or even to talk. Dai-chan of all people could have related.”

“How did he-?”

“The heart. How ironic, isn’t it? All that power surging through him and one day his heart simply couldn’t handle it. He never went to see a doctor, because he’s always been healthy.” Even when not looking, Shigehiro can hear her smile.

“When?”

“Does it matter? It would have always been too soon.”

Silence lapses again and Shigehiro waits another few beats before deeming the moment over. He turns around, forcing a cheer he does not feel. “All locked up.” He announces and holds up the key. Momoi’s smile is grateful.  

“So, what is it that I can help you with?”

“Don’t you already know?” Shigehiro blurts out before he can censor himself.

“It doesn’t quite work that way. I am no clairvoyant. I am merely good at finding what is hidden.” Her smile is playful but there is a sharp edge to it.

“Momoi-san used to be a journalist.” Kuroko says.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so used to everything kind of falling into place. There’s people who know the truth by _just looking_.”

“I wonder if that is more a blessing than a curse.” Momoi muses to herself. “I do know some things.” She glances at Kuroko. “I have made it a point to follow the trails of old friends.” Her eyes twinkle. “Needless to say, Tetsu-kun masterfully avoided me.”

“I was not aware I was being monitored.” Kuroko says. It almost sounds like an apology.

“Yes, but that’s what makes it worthwhile, isn’t it?” Momoi says lightly. “This body does come with some merits and most of my assignments are boring, quite frankly. Shige-kun would you be so kind and carry me? I could walk myself, but it takes a while to get there.”

“Uh, sure.” It’s a bit awkward to lift the doll - where does he even put his hands? Is it considered groping if he brushes her tiny butt? - but he eventually settles her on his arm. “Where to?”

“The backroom. I have my work station there.”

“Do you actually own this place? Or how does this work?”

“More or less. The store is just a front. People don’t come here for books.”

“But what if someone randomly walks in because they think there’s books here? Wouldn’t they freak out?”

“You can start an intellectual debate with your fridge these days, a talking doll is nothing compared to that.”

“But technically, Satsuki-chan is not a doll.”

“And who besides me knows this? But I see your point. That is why I have implemented spells that mask this place from anyone who is not aware of this store’s nature. Or is actually looking for this place.”

They have reached the back room, a rather large space with a desk and computer terminal dominating one entire wall and a small couch and coffee table at the other side. A large bookcase stands next to the couch, but the volumes lined on the shelves are certainly not recreational. Shigehiro spots everything from encyclopedias to detailed guides to corporate espionage. He’d rather not know why Momoi needs stuff like that – or who thought to put them into print. There is also a large brass device set up on top of the book shelf. There is a large round bellied bottle at its center with a deep green liquid in it. A lot of wires and antennae are connected to it.

He sets Momoi down on the chair in front of the desk, a special fit that allows her to reach over the desk’s edge without problem. There are plenty of screens, all showing black at the moment, but not a single keyboard or mouse. “I can’t promise any results, but if you want the best chances to find someone without clairvoyance shenanigans, this is it.” She says and puts her hand on a small glass plate that is set in the desk’s surface. One after another the screens jump to life. Shigehiro can’t make any sense out of the endless rows of numbers and letters that dominate all the screen, except one to the side that shows a picture of two people - one tanned, blue-haired man who glares up at what must be Momoi when she was still alive who apparently jumped on his back. She’s laughing and seems genuinely happy and even the man beneath her - Aomine, it must be Aomine - seems fond rather than annoyed.

Momoi notices his look and smiles, sadly, but there is an echo of the same fondness in her eyes that he sees in the picture.

“You look lovely.” Shigehiro tells her.

Some of the sadness melts from her smile. “Thank you,” she says quietly. “So what’s the damage?” She turns to Kuroko, now a determined expression on her face.

Kuroko starts to explain the situation, while Momoi is already juggling code at dizzying speed. She fires of questions in between, asking for details and Kuroko responds. The glare from the monitors is reflected in her pink eyes, giving them an eerie purple hue. It lends an even graver nature to the frown that etches on her face with every word Kuroko adds to the story.

“You’ve found a real sunshine there.” She comments drily.

“You have no idea.” Shigehiro grumbles. “He sends chills down my spine.”

Momoi’s eyes dart to Kuroko, a distinct melancholic expression in them. “He’s not the only one,” she murmurs, before turning her attention back to the screens. The flashing code has disappeared mostly, replaced with database entries, endless lists of names and text, pictures - moving so fast Shigehiro can do little more than catch a glimpse every now and then.

Kuroko doesn’t react to Momoi’s comment and Momoi doesn’t seem intent on elaborating. If she is really as perceptive as Shigehiro is convinced she is, she must have already figured out that Kuroko would not be deterred that easily.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Shigehiro asks, partly to break the silence and partly because he is genuinely interested.

“The patterns you mentioned. I am scanning every location where minerals have been found and match their current state with the conditions of the time and place you discovered _Nyama_.”

“Where do you get all the data? I mean, some of that stuff has happened years ago.”

“This world is suffused by a web of magic. Everything that happens in this web leaves a trace. It’s the same principle that’s been utilized to connect everything through the intenret, only much finer. I track and record everything that happens. Have been doing that for almost half a century now.” She smirks. “A lot of valuable information can be found in the past. Additionally, I am looking for the whereabouts of this Baron Schwarz person. I assume he is on the lookout for the very same thing so we might get some valuable information from him.”

“You can trace humans too?”

“Every human leaves a footprint.” The flickering images slow down to a crawling pace, slow enough for Shigehiro to read excerpts. “That can be something tangible, like a surveillance camera catching an image.” She indicates a screen to her left that shows the clear-cut magically enhanced image of a crowd in some urban space of unidentifiable location. “It is the easiest way to find someone, if I know their face and they happen to show up in a lot of surveillance areas.”

“So basically, it is completely useless now.” Shigehiro says.

“Exactly.” Momoi smiles and the image disappears to make space for a list of numbers. “There’s credit card trails, online payment.” All very neat things if you know how to read the information. “But it is also very easily avoidable. Especially for advanced magic users. But even they leave behind a footprint.”

“They are influencing the magical web.” Shigehiro concludes.

“Exactly. But tracing Schwarz is only one option. There are others, much better suited.”

“And what would those be?”

“For once the creation of the blood stones. An event like that would definitely make the news. Inexplicable homicides by otherwise perfectly normal and well-adjusted people? Bound to draw attention. There’s witness reports to screen for mentions of stones, some might have even popped up as evidence. That’s only one part of it though. It is more likely that events like these go unexplained and the stone disappears, either with the culprit or someone else. So basically every bit of bloody murder in human history is eligible. And every war. Really, it’s endless.”

“So how do you pinpoint which instances have something to do with a _Nyama_? And even if you do that correctly, most of those transitions could have happened ages ago. So how would we know where the stone is now?”

“Ahh, Shige-kun is a smart one. I knew Tetsu-kun had a reason to keep you around.” She winks at him. “I told you, I have been collecting data for half a century now. The good thing about the web is, it remembers. It’s not easy to read out the information, but I can do it. So I analyzed the instance in Greenland, where we know for sure a stone has transitioned and I use that data to analyze every instance of bloodshed in human history I have data about. Which is about ten percent I’d say.”

“That’s not much, is it?”

“Humans have killed humans since the dawn of time. Right in this moment, at least one human is violently killed. I suppose it must be fairly easy for a star stone to attract bloodshed. At least one of those must be a hit I’d say. And there is of course the other side of it as well. Mysteriously cured illnesses. People returning from the brink of dead. All this information provides clues. And once I know the timeframe and location of a positive, I can analyze the condition of the web at that specific point. A _Nyama_ leaves traces, just like every other magical object. And that is what I follow.”

“That’s pretty impressive.”

Momoi smiles fondly. “It is. And I suppose it is also one of a kind.” She points to the device on the bookcase. Shigehiro can see that the liquid has changed color from green to a sort of pulsing red, occasionally transitioning to purple or orange before returning to red. “This device records every change in the magic web that suffuses our world.” The look in her eyes is fond as she stares at the device. “Dai-chan has built it for me. I don’t think anyone else could have done it.”

“Aomine sure was talented.” Shigehiro says with no small amount of awe.

“He was.” Momoi agrees. “He tried explaining to me once how it works. I couldn’t understand. But even though it’s been in use for years, it shows no sign of wear. If it ever breaks, I’m afraid no one alive could fix it.”

Shigehiro gives it another more thorough look over. It is quite complex but it also seems to be held together largely by tape and strings. The metal frame the bottle is held in is rusty in some places, the wires are all spotty with age and use and the bottle itself has scratches all over. “So this thing detects everything and you record it with the computer?”

“In its essence, yes. I have a few servers set up that saves some of the data for immediate access. The rest I store in the web itself.” She points to another device, a small rectangular box made from rusty metal that seems to be controlled by an array of brass buttons and handles. “This allows me to directly access and manipulate the magical web as a data storage device. Another one of Dai-chan’s inventions. He built it when he was bored. I think he wanted to use it to hide his porn from me.” She snickered. “As if that would fool me.”

“Seems like a crafty guy.” Shigehiro mutters. Louder then, he says: “So what do we do now? Just sit here and wait until we get a positive?”

Momoi gives him a _look_. “Shige-kun can be surprisingly dense.” She says. Shigehiro feels vaguely insulted, but is placated by Momoi’s smile. “I wouldn’t be the best at what I do, if I let my clients wait here until something worthwhile happens. I keep my equipment up to date, so that it is as fast as possible. It will need a few minutes obviously, but we should have our first hit very soon.”

“And what if there is no hit? When the parameters you’ve set simply don’t match anything?”

“Then I’m afraid you’ll need to wait until your time weaver has recovered.” There is a low ping noise that follows her words. She brightens immediately. “Here we are. Our first match.”

“Where is it?” Kuroko peeks over Momoi’s head at the screen. But if Shigehiro had to guess, he’d say the numbers tell Kuroko as much as him.

“Let’s see…” A world map appears on one of the screens. There is a small window at the side that runs through a set of coordinates at record speed. “We have detected a stone’s presence, but its precise location has still to be calculated. Ah, there we go.”

The map has jumped continents and then zoomed in, so fast that Shigehiro barely realizes that they are looking at somewhere in the Southern part of Africa.

“Namibia.” Momoi says. A moment later the map is replaced with a satellite image. Momoi makes a low humming sound. “This is interesting.”

“What is?”

“No reports of bloodshed, at least none that the system can detect. But there have been suspicious activities recently. Here,” she zooms in on the satellite image until they can make out what appears to be a camp site. “this is the Rhino Ugab Camp at the Ugab river. There is an old mine further down the river, garnets mostly, but it has dried out a few years ago. The campsite kept running, until, well.”

Momoi taps a tiny finger against the desk. “There are plenty of forum threads and discussions about this place, but little is concrete. It seems to have becomes some sort of pilgrimage site. People go there to… die?” Momoi frowns.

“Are you sure this is a hit?” Shigehiro asks.

“I’d say the system is never wrong, but that would be foolish.” Momoi smiles wryly. “The system is only as good as its operator.” She pokes her tongue out at Shigehiro. She turns back to the monitors and to one of the forum threads she mentioned earlier. “Apparently there have been cases in which people have been cured from terminal illnesses and the likes. In the very least it seems that drinking… ugh gross.”

“What is it?”

“You know anything about mining?”

“Uhh, you dig a hole and if you’re lucky there’s diamonds?”

“Tetsu-kun is doing a terrible job with your home-schooling.” Momoi chastises. “Anyway, a big problem when digging into the earth is water. Mine shafts can be flooded if you tap into an underwater well or something like that. There’s also ground water. The mine has been closed for years no, and a lake has filled one of the deeper shafts. Its water is supposed to have healing powers.”

“ _Nyama?_ ” Kuroko asks.

“Maybe it’s the fountain of youth?” Shigehiro is soundly ignored.

“It’s your best guess at the moment. I will let the search running, but it could be a while until the next hit. Either way, I will let you know when the system has found something else.”

“Thank you Momoi-san.” Kuroko says earnestly.

Momoi’s eyes are fond and warm when she looks at him. “It’s the least I can do. I got to live my life with Dai-chan thanks to you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You brought Akashi-kun to me. If nothing else, I am doing this for him.”

“Momoi-san…” It is rare to see Kuroko hesitate and it is even rarer to see him with such a conflicted expression.

Momoi’s smile is sad. “Don’t.” She says softly. “I know what you want to say. It is good like this. I am not unhappy. This is not a sin I would want to add to your conscience.”

“I would do it anyway.”

“I know. And for that I am grateful. But it is not necessary. I’ve accepted my fate a long time ago.” There is a moment when Shigehiro thinks she is going to cry. But as before, she pulls herself together.

Shigehiro feels his eyes sting and looks away. It would not be fair for him to cry when Momoi can’t.

“If you ever change your mind-“

“Tetsu-kun.” Momoi sounds firm when she cuts in. “Do not think I could ever ask this of you. Even if I wanted to, I could _never_ ask you to kill me. That would not be fair.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time I ended someone’s life.”

“And how many of those have been friends?”

There is a moment of sheer, unveiled pain on Kuroko’s face. It seems for a moment as though he is about to say something but then the moment passes and Kuroko’s face smoothens back into its impenetrable mask.

The silence that follows is so heavy it feels like Shigehiro is suffocating.

And he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget that moment - Momoi’s sadness and the unbridled pain in Kuroko’s eyes.

None of this was ever supposed to happen.


	15. Tetsuya IX

Tetsuya’s mind was running a mile a minute, a reflexive analysis of the situation and its implications, but all of it was overwritten by his gut-deep worry for Kise. Kise clung to the wall as though it could offer protection as he kept glancing frantically over his back.

“Where is he?” Tetsuya demanded. He tried looking into the alley behind Kise, but all he could see were shadows. Not a hint of movement.

“He was right behind me.” Kise had his arms wrapped around himself, throwing glances over his shoulders repeatedly. “I thought I was going to die.” Wet eyes blink at Tetsuya and a moment later he was assaulted by 80 kilograms of distraught model.

“We should get away from here.” Tetsuya urged. He tried to comfort Kise with pats on his back but judging by how hard his shoulders trembled, it did little good. “Come on Kise-kun. It’s not safe here.”

“Okay.” Kise hiccupped and slowly let go of Tetsuya. His eyelashes were wet and tears had streaked wet trails down his cheeks.

With one last glance at the alley, Tetsuya led Kise away, towards what he hoped was safety. Akashi trailed behind, keeping an eye out on the alley entrance. His face didn’t show anything but Tetsuya couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Kise, despite having calmed down some, still kept an iron grip in Tetsuya’s arm. He made one attempt to reach for his phone - someone needed to be alerted - but Kise tightened his grip as though scared Tetsuya would let go.

“There is no one there.” Akashi said as he caught up to them. He looked at Kise with curious interest.

“But he was there.” Kise insisted. He tugged on Tetsuya’s arm and without thinking he followed.

“What were you doing here?” Akashi asked casually.

Kise puffed himself up, face still wet but attempting a smile all the same. “I had business in the area. A shoot to be precise. And the weather was so nice, I thought I’d walk home for a change.”

There was a pause - something that Kise said tugging at Tetsuya’s consciousness, something that wasn’t quite right. But the moment he thought he had it pinned down, Kise spoke up again and Tetsuya’s thoughts scattered like dust.

“Anyway, I am so glad that you came along when you did, Kurokocchi. I was so scared. I thought I was going to die. Scary!”

“It is all right now, Kise-kun. But I should probably call the authorities. The killer could still be in the area.” And Kise might provide valuable information on the killer’s identity.

“Can’t that wait, Kurokocchi? I barely escaped death you know?”

Baffled, Tetsuya halted his steps. “Kise-kun, this man has killed countless people. This might be our chance to finally catch him. I am sorry that you had to experience this, but I can’t put your wellbeing over the lives of many more innocents.”

There was an odd expression flitting over Kise’s face; worry, as though he’d realized he had said something wrong. “I didn’t mean it like that.” Kise said and waved his hand in Tetsuya’s face. “I was just hoping Kurokocchi could protect me a while longer? I feel safe with Kurokocchi. But you are right, you should call someone. It would be terrible if something would happen.” He started pulling again and Tetsuya followed. This time he managed to reach for his phone without any interference from Kise.

He hit the shortcut for emergency calls and then froze, the same time Akashi behind them let out a low noise from his throat. “Kise-kun.” He said slowly, planting his feet firmly so as not to be dragged any further. “Where are we going?”

“Huh? Why do you ask me, I was following you Kurokocchi.”

Tetsuya lowered the phone. No use calling anyone when there was no signal. He looked around. He hadn’t paid attention to where they were going - he had been too absorbed in Kise. The area looked familiar, the way many urban spaces look familiar when composed of the same common elements. But he didn’t recognize any of it. He wasn’t even sure if he would find the way back.

The houses that lined the streets were rundown and the few people out and about hurried past with their eyes cast downwards. Not far off, only about a hundred meters from where they currently were was a large abandoned industrial park and Tetsuya had a sudden inkling that this was where Kise had been headed.

“Step away from him, Kuroko.” Akashi said in a low warning tone.

“Awww, that is so mean, Akashicchi. I wasn’t paying attention. I just wanted to get as far away as possible.”

“Kise-kun,” the polite suffix tasted like bile on his tongue, “Why were you in that alley in the first place?” He felt torn between the sick suspicion that inexorably rose in his mind and the deep-seated belief that Kise was a _friend_. He was jumping to conclusions. He had to be. He couldn't accept what his gut instinct was telling him.

“I already told you, I was mod-“

“Kise-kun.” He clung to that hope, even as he put his phone away to slip a knife into its place. “Kasamatsu has canceled all your work for this month, to prepare for your overseas launch. You told me that yourself. _What were you doing here?_ ”

Unbidden, a memory rose to the surface of his mind. A few years ago, at Aomine’s birthday party. They had all drunken too much and so Kise had put up little resistance when Aomine needled him to show off his ability.

It had been a bad imitation really, the hair was leaning more towards green than blue and Kise’s facial features had shown through slightly, but he had managed to transform enough to pass as Aomine. How much of that failure was on purpose really?

Kise stared at him for a moment. There were no tears this time, no sparkles, nothing but the cold glint of amber colored eyes. Tetsuya had never realized how cold they truly were.

“Too bad.” Kise said softly. “I thought you surely wouldn’t have listened, as you never do.” Kise’s lips twisted into an ugly caricature of a smile. “But you were always slyer than you let on.”

“What-“ But Tetsuya didn’t get to finish before Kise yanked him around until they both faced Akashi. Tetsuya’s reflexes were a tad too slow and he had no choice but to freeze in place when he felt the cold bite of metal at his neck. Metal that had been Kise’s hand only moments before but was now formed into the shape of a long, sharp blade.

“You are fast. I am faster.” Kise’s voice sounded completely emotionless.

Akashi, who seemed to have been about to charge, slowly relaxed his stance again. His face was still calm, but Tetsuya could see the faint hints of tension.

“Let him go.” Akashi said calmly. “Then you might walk away from this.”

“You care.” Kise’s grip on Tetsuya tightened and he could feel something warm and wet run down his neck. “Quite the elaborate joke, don’t you think. You _care_.”

“Kise-kun-“

“Shut up, Kurokocchi.” Kise’s grip tightened even further. “I’m sorry, but I have no choice. You stirred up the wrong beehive. It’s just your luck they sent me to clean up the mess.” Kise sounded almost bitter when he said it.

“Is that what you are then? Someone to clean other people’s messes?” Akashi scoffed. He crossed his arms in front of him in a gesture entirely uncharacteristic to him.

“If you want to call it that. It’s not that it would change anything. You got in the way of the wrong people and now you have a target painted on your chest.”

“So you are working for Kinogawa then?” Tetsuya asked.

Kise was silent for a moment. Tetsuya carefully relaxed, slumping in Kise’s hold to let him believe he had given up, but Kise didn’t ease his grip in the slightest. “You haven’t figured it out yet? I thought you were smarter than that.”

“We know Kinogawa is not who he appears to be.” Tetsuya said.

“Well, I suppose that’s as much as I can expect from you. But you should have known to stay out of it. These people don’t do well with interference.”

“Why are you doing this, Kise-kun? You are not in it with them, are you?”

“No, I am not. But why I am doing this does not matter. You two will both be dead very soon.” Kise shifted his grip until he had efficiently locked any of Tetsuya’s movements. “If you make one move, I will slit his throat.” He said to Akashi. He sounded tense, but Tetsuya had no doubt that he would follow up. He did not know this Kise. And that thought scared him.

“No, you won’t.” Akashi said.

“You can’t stop me from there. I’ve paid attention.” Kise shifted his grip slightly and some of the pressure on Tetsuya’s throat eased. “You can only use your power upon immediate contact.”

Akashi didn’t respond. He just kept standing there, calm façade belying the tension in his muscles. Kise scoffed. “See? You are like a dog without fangs.”

“As soon as you slit his throat, your advantage is gone.”

“That just means I’ll have to keep him alive until you are dead. You care-“

“You keep saying that. I could say the same about you. And yet you hold a knife to his throat.”

“I will kill him, if I have to.”

“And then what? Kill him and you lose your only means of negotiation.” Akashi smirked, cold and stripped of any warm emotion. “If you had thought you could actually face off against me in a one-on-one, you would have never risked this situation. As it is, you are desperate.” Akashi slowly uncrossed his arms, stance shifting until he seemed ready to strike any moment. “I can only wonder what it is you want to badly that you would risk this situation.”

There was a moment of tense silence. Tetsuya, despite having known Kise for most of his life, couldn’t even begin to think of what to say.

“Hah, you saw right through me. But I guess that just means I can’t convince you.” Kise shifted again, his fingers dug into Tetsuya’s jaw as he forcefully tilted his head up.

Tetsuya sucked in a breath. Kise had aligned his hand-blade with Tetsuya’s neck.

“Kise, don’t do this.” Tetsuya felt panic well up and he tried to claw at Kise’s arm that held him but all he was met with was metal.

“You were wrong about one thing.” Kise said, ignoring Tetsuya’s struggles. “I do think I can face off against you.”

Tetsuya realized a moment too late what Kise was about to do. He scrambled to catch his fall, before he could become a hindrance to Akashi, but before he could even gather his bearings, he was already wrapped up in Akashi’s arms. Tetsuya hadn’t even realized Akashi had moved in to catch him, but there he was, pressed intimately close to Akashi’s chest, feeling his breath ghost over his neck. Time seemed to be suspended for a moment.

“Stay out of this. I’ll handle it.” Akashi’s voice was little more than a whisper and its proximity to Tetsuya’s ear, sent shivers down his spine. It seemed to him Akashi said something else then, but before his mind could grasp on to the words’ meaning, Akashi was gone, his sudden absence leaving Tetsuya reeling.

It took him a few precious moments to get his footing. By the time he recovered, Akashi and Kise were in the midst of a heated battle. Despite the circumstances, Tetsuya couldn’t help but be amazed. Due to the nature of his power, Akashi easily blocked every one of Kise’s attacks, but Kise adapted so fast, it barely made a difference. He kept morphing his arms too, from blades to clubs to spears, but Akashi evaded all of his attacks with the same subtle grace he invested in all his motions. Kise, however, was easily able to keep up.

But it was more than that. It was subtle at first, small bits and pieces here and there. It wasn’t until Akashi accelerated a parked car to launch at Kise that he realized it. Kise danced out of the car’s way, but as he did so, he brushed a hand over its chassis, almost in passing and the car’s trajectory was reversed instantly. Just like with the man with the lightning powers, Kise had already started copying Akashi’s ability.

Tetsuya hastily looked around, but the streets were still deserted. There were a few faces behind the safety of windows, but no one would interfere. Considering the circumstances, he couldn’t blame them.

Kise made a whipping motion with his arm and Tetsuya had to dive out of the way as lightning forked out from his fingers. The lightning branched off towards a nearby streetlamp, sending off a rain of sparks from the lamp itself. But more importantly, Akashi failed to dodge the attack completely, some of it glancing off his side and sending him crashing to the ground. For a moment, Tetsuya thought he wasn’t going to get up. His heart beat frantically and he wasn’t prepared at all for the pure panic settling in his mind. ~~~~

Kise, still braced from his last attack, slowly relaxed. “It’s nothing personal. But I can’t afford to let you walk away from this.” Akashi had barely gotten up. He was breathing hard and Tetsuya had no illusions about his ability to dodge this time. Sparks sprung from Kise’s fingertips and Tetsuya reacted without thinking.

There was a noise in his ears, like someone screaming his name, an odd, contorted sound born from too many throats. The sound of it was swallowed by the deafening roar of lightning. Tetsuya squeezed his eyes shut. He had no protection against this and Kise had surely picked a voltage that was deadly.

But nothing happened. Tetsuya landed on the ground harshly, skittering over the ground and adding a few more bruises to his already battered body. He opened his eyes to a scene that seemed to be frozen in time.

Kise stood, arm still outstretched from his attack but his face was drawn with shock and horror. Akashi was on his knees, arm similarly outstretched as though to stop the lightning from afar. And right in front o Tetsuya’s face, the forked end of a lightning bolt hung frozen in the air. Tetsuya blinked and it was gone.

 Kise’s outstretched arm dropped to his side as he stared wide-eyed at Tetsuya and then at Akashi. “How…?”

“You were wrong about something as well.” Akashi said. A chill settled in Tetsuya’s bones. Akashi’s voice had never sounded this smooth and _cold_ before. Tetsuya could only stare at him. Something had changed about Akashi. The way he held himself was different, subtly so but undeniably. And then Akashi stepped forward with the finality of a conqueror claiming new land. His eyes, Tetsuya realized with sudden shock, had changed color. Akashi’s left eye was a bright, startling gold.

Kise hesitated. His hands were clenching and unclenching at his side, as though he couldn’t quite make up his mind about attacking. He flicked his eyes to Tetsuya once again, as though worried.

“How…” He swallowed, “how did you do that?” He slightly raised his hand and made a grabbing motion, as though trying to hold on to something.

Akashi smiled. It was almost pleasant, weren’t it for the cold edge that his eyes lent to it. “Do not bother. A fake will never reach up to the original. It is time I put you in your place.”

Kise stared at his hand in silent horror. “What did you do _?”_ He lashed his arm out, but this time no lightning came forth. Nothing happened.  “ _What did you do?”_

Akashi lifted his hand, casually almost, as though in greeting. Kise’s eyes widened and he made to move, but he wasn’t fast enough. Whatever it was that Akashi had unleashed hit him with full force and Kise was thrown backwards into the ruin of one of the cars he had hurled at Akashi only moments before.

“Give it back.” Kise hissed. The crash had winded him, but not broken his spirit. “You have no right to take it.”

“I am stronger. I have every right.” Akashi said with an impassive voice. “You stand no chance against me. You lose.” Akashi stood over Kise, looking down on him with an almost bored expression.

“It’s not over yet.” Kise spat, reaching for something in his jacket. He was fast, fast enough to get the knife out and ready to throw, but Akashi forced it out of his hands without even lifting a finger. The scream Kise let out as his fingers twisted in painful angles was guttural and it made bile rise in Tetsuya’s throat.

“But it is.” Akashi said. “You should have never tried to raise a hand to Tetsuya. Your display of skill was quite entertaining. I would have spared your life as reward for your display of grace. But attacking Tetsuya is unforgivable.”

The way Akashi said his name - almost tenderly - sent chills down Tetsuya’s spine. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and run, but he forced himself to take a step forward. And then another one. And another.

Kise was panting and a trickle of blood was running down his chin. Still, he moved with remarkable speed when he pushed himself to his feet. He stood there for a moment, sweat beading on his face. His shoulders were heaving, as though he had just run a marathon. Kise had moved around a lot already, but Tetsuya knew his stamina to be extraordinary. It shouldn’t have drained him like this.

And then slowly, almost as though he had to fight for every centimeter of it, his arm changed into a blade.

“Impressive.” Akashi commented almost idly.

“Of course,” Kise tried a smirk but it came out rather shaky. “I do know how your powers work after all.”

“I’m afraid that won’t help you.” Kise had no time to react, before his metal arm-blade snapped off with a sickening sound. Kise screamed, grasping at the stump where his hand had been as he collapsed to the floor.

Tetsuya barely had the time to turn around and bend over, before his stomach emptied with revolting force. He heaved a few times, stomach muscles clenching painfully. Finally, his stomach had nothing else to give and Tetsuya slowly managed to regain his breathing. He still felt sick, but no longer like he was about to throw up.

Kise lay curled on the ground, the stump of his arm pressed to his chest. Tears stained his cheeks and he let out a whimper with every breath. Akashi hadn’t moved. He stared down impassively at the man that had once been Tetsuya’s friend.

Something in his chest stirred and for a brief, precious moment, Tetsuya thought this all had to be a bad dream. He was going to wake up to a world where Kise was no criminal, no murderer and where he hadn’t had to witness the monster that Akashi had become.

Kise slowly regained awareness of his surroundings. Tetsuya had stepped away from the mess he had made, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to walk closer. He felt like a stranger who had walked into a dramatic play. He had no business being here. He was just a normal human with no powers to speak of.

“Kuroko…cchi, please. I didn’t intend to hurt you. I could never…” Kise was pleading, eyes wide and glazed over with pain. He reached out his good hand, shaking and unsteady.

Tetsuya’s hand moved without his bidding. The blood on his neck had dried and flaked off as his fingers grazed over the wound. There were so many questions, but somehow he couldn’t form any of them into words. He could only stare.

Kise had been his _friend_.

“Lower your eyes. And do not speak. We won’t suffer your lies.”

Kise choked out a laugh. “Why do you think you are still alive? You hesitated too long for your power-up. If I had really wanted… That much is not a lie.”

“And you think that makes a difference?”

“No,” Kise huffed. “No, it doesn’t. But it is also true that I never had a choice. If I hadn’t gone after you…” The pain on Kise’s face was only partially due to his severed arm. There was something deeper, something that was stronger than even the physical pain he was enduring.

Akashi just smiled. He raised his hand again, just barely. Kise flinched, a flash of pure fear on his face and Tetsuya moved instinctively, driven by the memory of the man he had thought was a friend. He grabbed Akashi’s raised hand.

“Stop it.” He urged. “Please. There is no need to kill him.” There was a tense moment, when Akashi stood there frozen, resisting Tetsuya’s attempts to lower his hand. His ability could not harm Tetsuya, but physically he was stronger than him. And for a brief moment, Tetsuya was convinced Akashi would shake him off to finish what he had started.

“Please.” Tetsuya felt like crying, but he held back the tears with all his force. “Don’t become a killer for my sake.”

And then, slowly, Akashi lowered his hand. There was something in his eyes, an expression so lost, it tore at Tetsuya’s heart. He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He murmured. “I’m sorry.” Akashi blinked his eyes open - red, both of them - and Tetsuya was startled to find tears in them. “This was never supposed to happen.” He lifted a shaking hand and rested it on Tetsuya’s cheek. Only then did Tetsuya realize that he was crying too. “I’m sorry.” Akashi said again. “I’m burned out. There is nothing I can do now.”

Tetsuya felt the floor give out under him. He slowly turned away from Akashi, summoning all his willpower to draw away from the look in his eyes. _You care_ , Kise had said earlier. Now he finally believed it was true.

Kise was dying. It had been there in Akashi’s eyes, the truth and the irrevocability of it. Akashi’s eyes were rimmed red, the skin around swollen. Whatever power he had left, he would not be able to use it. Whatever he had done, he could not take it back.

Akashi dropped his hand and closed his eyes. A tear dripped down his cheek, mixed in with a bit of blood. Tetsuya wanted to wipe it away, but instead he turned to Kise.

“Kise-kun, why did you…?” His voice felt like sandpaper in his throat, like something that didn’t quite want to be dragged to the surface. It wasn’t what he wanted to say to a dying friend, but there was nothing else he could say to make it better.

All he could hope for at this point was an answer.

Kise’s lips twitched into a terrible imitation of a smile. “Because they took something from me. And I wanted it back.” Kise laughed, a wet, horrible sound that sent a chill down Tetsuya’s spine. “Not that it would have made a difference if I killed you. But maybe I would have gotten something out of it.” His eyes flicked to Akashi for a moment.

“What was it? What did they take?” Tetsuya asked. His voice felt too small.

“Does it matter now? It is out of my reach.” Kise looked down at his severed arm. “I suppose this is justice then. You cut off my ability. I’ve lost the one thing that made me special. And it’s not even what will kill me.”

Tetsuya opened his mouth, but he couldn’t think of anything to say.

“I should be mad at you.” Kise looked at Akashi.” But I guess I had it coming.” He looked sad now. “All right, I will tell you my story. That’s what villains do at the end, don’t they? Reveal the tragic back story that makes them sympathetic?”

“Is that what you are, a villain?”

“Do you really need to ask?”

“This is not a story. There will be no redemption for your sins. Tragic back story or not.”

“I guess you are right on that, Kurokocchi. And I guess I deserve this as well. Just…” Kise blinked and finally tears fell from his eyes. “All I wanted was to protect my family. Such a simple thing, is it not? Do you remember my sister, Kurokocchi? They took her and I haven’t seen her in years.” Kise laughed a dry mirthless sound. “I don’t even know what she looks like now...”

“Is that what they took from you, your sister?” Tetsuya asked.

“Yes. They took her to make me cooperate. It was just small things at first. Spying on other celebrities mostly. But then they realized what I could do.”

“All the people you’ve killed. Was it on their orders?”

“They were going to kill my sister if I didn’t.” Kise squeezed his eyes shut. “I never wanted this. But she is my sister. I couldn’t let them hurt her.”

“Why didn’t you go to-“

“The police?” Kise rasped out a laugh, but it quickly dissolved into a bout of brutal coughs. Blood splattered from his mouth and Kise wheezed a few painful sounding breathes before he could continue. “Do you really need to ask? You are here, on your own, because none of your higher ups can be trusted. If I had gone, my sister would be dead.”

“And now that you failed…” Cold dread settled in Tetsuya’s gut. No wonder Kise had felt so trapped. He had failed and now his sister would pay for it.

“They will kill her.” Kise said with a voice that sounded almost dead.

“We can stop them. Tell us where their leader is hiding and we will protect your sister.” Tetsuya was speaking too fast, but he couldn’t quite calm down. He remembered Kise’s sister from years back, when she was barely tall enough to reach his chest. She was so similar to her brother, same bright personality, same unbridled love for life. It was unthinkable.

“And you think you will be fast enough?” Kise’s smile was bitter. His eyes were swelling with blood, the bright amber of his iris stained deeply red. But unlike Akashi, he would not recover. Blood was dripping from his lips and nose. “There is nothing you can do.”

“Then let us get revenge.” Akashi said softly. “We might not be able to save her - or you, but we can make them pay for what they did.”

Kise closed his eyes, as though he were tired. “I would like that.” He murmured. “It’s the one thing I failed to give Hana. Justice.” 

“You didn’t fail her.” Tetsuya said gently. He felt like crying but he forced the emotions from his voice. Kise couldn’t see his face but he could hear what he let into his voice. “This was not your fault.”

“But I enjoyed it.” Kise said quietly. “At first it was terrible and I felt sick. But then I realized that with their deaths, the powers I took grew stronger. And some of them were bad people, so I thought maybe this is justice after all. I didn’t kill for Hana, but for the joy of it. So I failed her.”

There was nothing he could say to that. Tetsuya had come too close to killing someone just recently and it still gave him nightmares. So what could he say to ease the burden on Kise’s heart?

“Your friend there, tell him to be careful. He’s the same as me. It is too easy for us. Just a thought and someone is dead. And once you’ve begun…”

Akashi opened his eyes, his eyes bloodshot but clear. “It is too late for that. I killed you.”

“Don’t let it tempt you then. At least it wasn’t easy, was it? But I suppose, for you it was. Just don’t lose sight of what’s important.”

Akashi looked at Tetsuya. “I won’t.” He said softly.

“That’s good then.” Kise sighed. “I forgive you. Even if it means the death of my sister. You protected what is dearest to you. I can’t hate you for that.”

“Kise-kun-“

“Don’t, Kurokocchi. It is too late for me. But I guess this is as good as any end for me. I have too much blood on my hands. It is time I face my sins. But before I go, I want to make sure that these bastards get what they deserve.”

“Then tell us where to find them.” Akashi said.

“Shao Qing. I can tell you where he is. Not just one of his hideouts. The secret base of operations. Even if he’s not there right now, he will be eventually. That is also most likely where my sister is kept.”

“They told you their secret hideout? Why didn’t you go there yourself?”

“They didn’t tell me. But they had me deal with this one guy a few times. His powers are a bit peculiar and put him at an advantage. He must have stepped on their toes one times too many, because they asked me to deal with him permanently. I left them in the belief that my power has certain restrictions. So they had no idea what I could really do.” Kise attempted a smirk but it fell short. His voice was getting steadily weaker. He had to be hanging on by sheer willpower. “The man had a most remarkable ability. The things he could see. It was a passive ability though, so I could only get a short glimpse of it. But for just this moment I could see the truth. All of it.”

 “Azuki.” Tetsuya breathed.

“Yes. It’s connected, you see. Everything is connected.” Kise smiled. “A shame that I had to kill him. That ability is a gift. But everything has its price...” Kise trailed off. “When they sent me after you, I hoped that maybe, with your power I could finally free my sister. But I couldn’t harm Kurokocchi. Even when my life and Hana’s depended on it. I couldn’t.”

Tears were now openly leaking from Kise’s closed eyes. Streaks of red followed the trail of tears. “I’m sorry, Kurokocchi. I never meant to hurt you.” He breathed, voice barely above a whisper.

“Kise,” Tetsuya said urgently. “Where is it?”

Kise’s eyelids fluttered. His lips were moving, but no sound came out. Tetsuya moved closer to bring his ear neat Kise’s lips. Kise said something, but the ragged sound of his breathing drowned out the words.

“Kise,” he urged. He dug his fingers into Kise’s wrist in an attempt to draw his attention, but Kise no longer saw him.

“I’m sorry, Kurokocch-“ Kise’s voice died off like a sigh lost in the breeze. His heart had stopped beating.

Tetsuya knelt there frozen, Kise’s wrist clutched in his hands and he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to stop the oncoming storm. He clenched his fist harder, except Kise’s hand flopped like a dead fish and he couldn’t let go fast enough. Then he was crying, big, ugly sobs that shook his body. Akashi was there, a moment later, wrapping his arms around Tetsuya without saying a word.

And Tetsuya finally allowed himself to grieve for his friend.


	16. Shigehiro VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been to Namibia but that has never stopped me before.

The first thing Shigehiro notices when they land is the view. A mighty river stretches lazily to their right; its sheer size reminds him of the old Chinese legend that all rivers are sleeping dragons. There are small boats anchored at the shore, even a kayak. Who would ever be crazy enough to brave a river of this size with a tiny boat is beyond Shigehiro.

The satellite image Momoi had shown them does not compare with reality. “I think…” Shigehiro stares at the sun. What time of day is it? The mine is East from the camp and if he isn’t completely wrong… “the camp should be that way?”

“How about we just follow the signs?” Kuroko asks drily.

Shigehiro only now realizes the signs posted along the trodden path that winds alongside the river. Some of them are apparently old pointers towards the camp, but others seem newer, showing the outlines of a lake below the jagged edges of a mountain. The entire image is surrounded by yellow lines, as though glowing.

“Very… artistic? Is that supposed to be the underground lake with the mysterious healing powers?” Shigehiro leaned in closer to inspect the sign.

“This place is mostly advertised by hearsay, I imagine. At this point, people will know what to expect here. To anyone else this might just appear as nonsense.”

“But a glowing lake seems weird, doesn’t it. Who knows, maybe people come here thinking there’s gold in the lake.”

“In a way, there is.”

They walk around a bend in the road, past a grove of trees that obscures further view and come face to face with a veritable tent city. The few huts they had seen on the satellite image, have gotten a lot of company.

Few take notice of them when they enter. Most are too absorbed in their own problems and Shigehiro can’t blame them. There aren’t just terminally ill people here, although he can make out a fair share of them too - judging by the oxygen tanks, I.V.s and other portable life supporting systems some lug along. He can see cripples, missing limbs, fresh wounds as well as hideous scars. Many bear the marks of an illness; rashes, discolored skin. Shigehiro has to fight the urge to mask his face with his sleeve. The few that seem healthy are supporting what must be their friends or family.

Despite the cheerful sign posted at the entrance - a colored rendition of the glowing lake and mountain - this is not a happy place. The air is filled with groans, coughing and all the other sounds that usually fill a hospital.

“Don’t worry. Ogiwara-kun is immune to any infectious disease.”  Kuroko is making his way through the crowd, slowly but as though he knows where to go.

“I am? How come?”

Kuroko turns his head slightly to look at Shigehiro, without slowing his steps. “The same way Ogiwara-kun’s ageing has slowed. Ogiwara-kun’s time has been distorted. If you want details, you best ask Sesha-san.”

“Yeah, she already explained it to me. I just didn’t know it affected diseases too.” Shigehiro sighs. “There’s modern medicine, and yet here we are. I bet even the healthy end up sick spending time here. And what about people with a low immune system? This is like a death sentence.”

“Humans do amazing things when drawn by hope. It is a constant in their history.”

“Not just in theirs.” Shigehiro says softly.

Kuroko doesn’t reply, doesn’t turn around, but Shigehiro knows he understands.

They have reached the end of the campsite, nestled into the side of a low rocky outcrop. The path winds between this outcrop and its twin, disappearing somewhere out of sight. The mine must be that way. Someone has closed off the road with a barricade made of old wood and felled trees and one very unlucky jeep. Two man with some kind of heavy-duty guns stand guard, glaring at anyone who dares near.

“Go back.” One of them snarls as they approach. “If you want water, talk to Aurum.”

“And who might that be?”

“Do I look like a telephone book?” The man replies.

“You still use telephone books? What kind of stone age did you crawl out of?” Shigehiro shoots back.

The man growls and stops forward. His companion sighs. “Leave it be. Aurum is in the hut tent near the river. But don’t get your hopes up. He is a very busy person. Now scram or we’ll have to make you.”

“Okay, all right. We’re leaving.” Shigehiro turns around and after a moment’s pause, Kuroko follows. “If I had to guess, I would say Aurum knows what’s up. The stone, I think, is in the mines though. It has to influence the water somehow.” He says quieter once they have put some distance between them and the men.

“That is the most likely option.”

“Okay, I know that we could just zap in and get it, but I’d like to check out this Aurum guy first. There’s something fishy here.”

Kuroko regards him for a moment. “All right. But I won’t give up the stone for someone else.”

Shigehiro lets out a breathless huff of air. “I know. Believe me, I know that. But walking away from this with these people’s only hope, don’t you think we should at least make an effort to get to know them?”

“I suppose this is… empathy?”

“Yes. Yes, it is. And I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but empathy is important. Caring is important. And you care, I know you do. Even if it’s only about-“ Shigehiro shakes his head. “Wouldn’t he want you to care? Isn’t that what your story is about? How you taught him empathy? You think he’d appreciate coming back and finding you have forsaken your own lessons?”

Kuroko looks angry for a moment, before his face softens. “I can’t save all these people.” He says eventually. “Not even a _Nyama_ can do that. Its powers would burn out before everyone here is cured.”

“I know. But this is not what this is about. I wish I could save all of these people. I wish I could. But I know that I can’t. And it’s not my place to make a choice who deserves to be saved and who doesn’t. But these people came here, from all over the place I bet, just on a thin thread of hope. And we are about to take this hope away. The least we can do is look them in the eye while we do it.”

“This will hurt you.”

“Yes it will. But pain is a part of life. How would you know that you are alive, if you didn’t feel the whole spectrum of it? And pain is part of that. I would feel worse if we just stole the stone secretly.”

“I see. This is a valuable lesson.” Kuroko’s lips quirk ever so faintly. “I have forgotten so many things. I know I should be upset about this situation, past me certainly would have been. I would have tried to save everyone. I think.”

“You would have.” Shigehiro says with conviction. “The old Kuroko was a meddler with a too big heart.”

“Thank you.” Kuroko says earnestly. “It means a lot.”

Shigehiro feels a flush of embarrassment. He hadn’t meant anything with it. He had just said what he honestly thought, but Kuroko’s seriousness made him self-conscious.

They continue on their way until they reach the place the man described. The hut is as old and worn as the rest of the campground, but someone has made an effort to make it look presentable. A banner with the same glowing lake symbol hangs limply from a flag post and parts of the hut have been brushed up with fresh material. Flowers lie piled up against the walls, withered and fresh, woven into wreaths and loose piles. Most are flowers that must have been picked from the near surroundings, but some are more exotic. In between the flowers lie offerings, jewelry mostly, but also books, cell phones in original packaging, other electronic equipment, some old and new, stuffed animals and an endless amount of letters and pictures.

Another armed guard is posted outside the door that has been painted golden. A red ribbon is tied around the door handle. Shigehiro is surprised. The other guard had said Aurum was busy, yet it doesn’t seem as though there’s much going on here. In fact, none of the sick make an attempt at approaching the hut. He’d thought they would be vying for his attention.

Just then, the door bangs open with a crash. A girl is dragged out two guard. “You can’t do this.” She screams, fighting the guard with teeth and nails. “You have no right.” She’s small, seems almost frail held up between two burly men. Her long dark hair hangs in wild curls around her face, giving her something of a lioness.

“My mine. My rules.” The man - who Shigehiro guesses must be Aurum - that follows them out is tall, yet lanky. He seems to be around forty, although it is hard to tell with his bald head. “If you don’t follow the rules, I will kick you and your sister out of this camp.”

The girl growls. “There aren’t even any rules. You just make them up when you need them and forget them when it’s convenient.”

“Your point being?” Aurum leans against the doorframe. The guards have dragged the girl far enough away so they let her go and return to the man’s side.

The girl is kneeling in the dirt, the fight drained from her as she looks up with hopeless eyes. Her clothes are baggy and make her seem even smaller than she is. Despite her worn appearance, her clothes and skin are clean. Even her hair is tied up neatly in a bun. “She’s dying.” She breathes. “ _please.”_

Aurum sighs. Suddenly, his expression is almost gentle. “Your sister got the same treatment as everyone here. One drop of mine water. I can’t make exceptions now, can I? Would you say your sister deserves more than anyone else here?”

“So why don’t you just give out more? The mine is full of water.”

“Ah, ah, ah.” The man tuts. “It is not that simple. It isn’t just the water that cures. It needs special _processing_. And that takes time. And money.”

The girl slumps in defeat. “We don’t have anything.” She murmurs.

With the way her eyes are cast down, there is no way the girl could see Aurum’s face, and it is obvious how much he enjoys putting her down. “But those are the rules Liliana. Whoever pays to forward the processing, will get their due compensation. If you could pay, your sister would long be cured. Of course, you can always wait for the monthly choosing. One lucky soul gets cured completely for free. Never say I am not generous.” With that he turns around and walks back inside, without sparing the girl another glance.

The door closes with a loud sound and Liliana flinches. She heaves a few breathes, shoulders shaking with her sobs, but she works hard to pull herself together. Shigehiro spares a glance at Kuroko. But his attention is on the house rather than the girl.

Shigehiro feels very old all of a sudden. He walks over, just as Liliana starts wiping the tears from her eyes. He holds out his hand. She looks up at him with clear surprise. There is a moment when they just stare at each other, Shigehiro smiling to show he has no ill intent and Liliana assessing. His smile must have won out, because she reaches out and lets him pull her to her feet.

“Is he always this much of a pleasant person?” He asks in an effort to lighten the mood.

Liliana studies him for a moment. “The Great Aurum is a very busy man, but he takes care of his people.” She says automatically. Then she turns around and spits viciously on the ground.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Shigehiro says drily “I’m Shigehiro by the way.” He gestures to Kuroko, who has yet to move closer. “That’s Kuroko. We’re new.”

Liliana’s smile is tired but genuine. “It can be confusing for new folks. I would show you around, but I need to check on my sister.” Her smile falters and she surreptitiously wipes at her eyes. Shigehiro pretends he doesn’t notice. “My name is Liliana van Groen.” She nods, eyes drawn. “Maybe we will see each other later.”

“Wait.” Shigehiro blurts out. Liliana stops. “Uh, this may sound weird. But could we maybe join you?”

Liliana frowns. She looks from Shigehiro to Kuroko and then back and finally shrugs. “If you’re not afraid of getting infected.” With that she walks off.

Shigehiro quickly follows.

“This is fairly straightforward.” Kuroko says quietly once he has caught up to Shigehiro. They trail a few steps behind Liliana, who has set a quick pace. “Aurum must be utilizing the stone and uses its power to gain influence.” He doesn’t outright say it, but Kuroko must think this a waste of time.

“I know,” Shigehiro responds. “But I doubt Aurum has the stone somewhere nearby. It would help to understand how things around here work. If nothing else, it’ll save us time searching.”

“I have to admit I am curious. It has been a long time since I last encountered disease.”

Liliana leads them away from the ensemble of huts and tents, to a small dilapidated shed near the waterfront. It seems to have been used to store swimming equipment, as deflated floating mats, tires and other stuff are piled outside.

“It is a matter of respect too.” Shigehiro adds. “We are about to take away their last hope.”

“It won’t matter to these people.” Kuroko says quietly. Liliana has disappeared inside. “They will resent us either way.”

“They will. And to them, I guess, it will seem like pettiness as well.” Shigehiro hesitates before he steps inside. “I can’t really explain it. But this feels like something we should do, you know? Like we owe it to them.”

Kuroko inclines his head. “If this is how Ogiwara-kun feels, we will do as he says.”

It’s almost odd how relieved he feels. “Thank you.” He really means it.

The story is a common one. Liliana and Lahja are twin sisters who grew up in an orphanage after their parents died in a car crash. They grew close since each other was all they had left. Life hadn’t been easy, but they had had each other. Somehow they had managed to preserve against all odds. After reaching adulthood, Liliana had found a job to support the two of them, while Lahja went to college to become a doctor. Everything had been going well until Lahja had been exposed to a patient infected with magic rot. The woman had disguised her illness and had come to the hospital in search of pain killers - knowing full well that her sickness would isolate her otherwise.

Liliana seems old beyond her years, the way she is kneeling in the dim half-light of the shed, staring down at the prone form of her sister. Lahja is her exact mirror image, or would have been, weren’t it for the thick, worm-like veins protruding from her body. Even with little to no medical knowledge, Shigehiro can tell that she’s beyond hope. Medicine has advanced significantly, enhanced by magic, but this is nothing magic can treat.

Liliana sighs heavily. She lifts her hand into a tired wave and just as lazily, two witch lamps flicker to light. It’s one of the most basic levels of magic, but Shigehiro has never managed to master even that much. Not for the first time, Shigehiro wonders, how much easier life would be of other things could be as easily created than light.

The dim light of the witch lamps only serves to pronounce the shadows on Liliana’s face. “It’s not fair,” she whispers. She gently brushes a strand of sweaty hair from Lahja’s face. Shigehiro can see the inflated veins creep up Lahja’s neck, it won’t be long until they cover her face. She is sleeping fitfully, but her face is twisted into a pained grimace.

“How long has she been like this?” Shigehiro asks quietly.

“Two months.” Liliana says. There is a hint of bitterness around her mouth. “No hospital would take her. We were kicked out of our apartment. Then I heard of this place. It took us two weeks to reach here. We’ve been here for almost a month now. She’s been… good before. Better. She could walk on her own and move around with little pain. But a few days ago, she suddenly worsened.” Liliana has to take a moment to collect herself again. She has dark rings under her eyes. It’s hard to say with the kind of loose and baggy clothes she wears, but she seems thin, almost emaciated.  

She reaches for a nearby bucket and pulls out a sponge. She wrings it and starts dabbing at Lahja’s face. Despite her proximity, she shows absolutely no hints of being infected herself. But that doesn’t have to mean anything. The rot is a terrible disease, almost always deadly, but it doesn’t follow any conceivable spreading patterns.

“Can we do anything to help?” Shigehiro asks. He wonders if he or Kuroko can be infected by the rot. He wonders if Kuroko would offer him a stone for a cure, if it came to that. But all this wondering leads nowhere.

Liliana huffs a laugh. “You could drag Aurum out here so that he sees the conditions we live in. That he sees how desperate we all are. See for himself what he is withholding from us.” She drops the sponge back in the bucket. “But for now, you could get new water. There is a cistern down the river. The others no longer use it, because I have apparently tainted it.” Her lips twist into a bitter smile. “Unless you are scared of getting infected.” It is phrased like a challenge, but Liliana’s voice sounds too tired, too strained. Desperate.

“I’ll go.” Kuroko says to Shigehiro’s surprise. He picks up the bucket and walks out.

“That’s the worst part of it, you know?” Liliana reaches out to hold Lahja’s hand. “To know that the cure is right here, only a few steps away and yet it is out of my reach.” She tilts her head back and closes her eyes. Her frame trembles. She seems to be drawing strength from somewhere.

“What did the man, Aurum, mean when he said there were rules? And what about the treatment that everyone gets?”

Liliana opens her eyes and turns her head to look at him. “It’s a welcome gift. Everyone that arrives gets one drop of water. Holy water or whatever you want to call it. It’s enough to ease some of the symptoms, to prolong one’s life. But it rarely cures completely. So people come here on threadbare hope and they get shown their salvation. So they stay. And bow to Aurum’s every demand in hopes he’ll grant them enough to cure them.”

“Is that what he meant with payment?”

“Mostly. He prefers money, but he’ll take other things to. And if he’s satisfied he’ll give you another drop, or maybe two. All the people here, some of them were quite well off when they came here. He’s bled them dry and yet he keeps asking.”

“He’s not planning on giving out the cure, is he?”

“There are a few cases where he has. At least that’s what the rumors say. I don’t know anyone who has been cured. Even if he has, I doubt it was anything but calculated.”

“He’s using the welcoming gift to make people stay, and the rumors of actual cures serves to make them cling to hope. It’s ingenuous.”

“Unfortunately. He has allegedly filled the mining bureau down at the mine entrance with all his treasures. The stuff outside his hut is only for show. To make him seem like a savior. There’s some letters of people he allegedly healed in there, love confessions and all such stuff. I’m convinced it is all fake. If he has cured someone, that someone was probably a millionaire and paid him his weight in gold or something.”

“Has anyone tries to sneak into the mine?”

“Of course. Some are desperate enough. I haven’t heard of anyone who made it though. He likes to hang their corpses up for display. It’s bad taste, but he insists on having to follow the rules. Even though he’s the one who constantly changes them.”

The door opens and Kuroko steps through. He hands the bucket to Liliana and retreats back into the corner without a word.

Outside, a bell chimes loudly. “Ah,” Liliana says, “it’s lunch time.”

“Lunch?”

“Yes. We get served food all together. To strengthen the bonds, Aurum says. Well, I say food, but it is mostly just unidentifiable mush that tastes like nothing. But for most of us, it’s all we get. There are some who have friends or family who bring some stuff every now and then, but Aurum has decreed that everything must be shared so he confiscates it. He keeps the best stuff for himself of course.” She stands and goes to retrieve a dented metal bowl and a spoon.

“Of course.” Shigehiro echoes and stands as well.

They follow Liliana outside and towards a large assembly of humans crowded around a row of tables. Huge pots are placed on the tables and three men dressed in greasy kitchen garb hand out the contents. Even from this far, Shigehiro can see that it’s rather disgusting looking brown mush.

“This won’t take long.” Liliana says as they approach. Shigehiro eyes the line that has formed critically.

A hush falls when Liliana approaches. People make way for her, going as far as to give up their spot in the line, just to avoid contact. It is true that magic rot is a nasty disease, but in its early stage the chance for a total recovery is considerably high. But here it is treated like the plague. The man behind the pot glares at Liliana as she holds out her bowl. He uses as much distance as possible when he serves her a heap of brown mush.

“May I get a second portion for my sister?” Liliana asks with tired politeness.

The man scoffs. “If she wants some, she needs to get it herself.” He says.

Liliana draws her brows together, but already a few people have picked up complaining about her holding up the line. She sighs and turns away.

Shigehiro steps up to the table. “Can I have a portion?” He asks cheerfully.

The man eyes him. “Who are you?”

“I am Shigehiro, I’m new.”

The man grunts and takes a bowl from a stack behind him and fills it. “Thank you.” Shigehiro says brightly. “While you’re at it, could you get my friend one as well?” He gestures towards Kuroko who stands a distance away. “He’s shy.” The man rolls his eyes but fills a second bowl with food.

They return to the shed, much to the relief of the crowd. Liliana’s face doesn’t betray anything, but Shigehiro can see the tired set of her shoulders.

“How come Aurum’s guards had no fear to touch you?” Kuroko asks when they approach the shed.

Liliana shrugs. “What have they to fear? I’m sure Aurum is keeping them well supplied with the cure in case they get infected. I have my doubts that he’ll actually come through if it happens, but as long as they believe.”

“The true question is,” Shigehiro muses, “why are the others this afraid. I mean, a lot of them have diseases of their own. How many of them are dying? What’s one more risk on their plate?”

“They don’t believe the cure will work on the rot.” Liliana pauses outside the shed. “It corrupts magic. And this cure is supposed to be magic.”

Shigehiro opens his mouth to tell her that the cure will work, but then realizes he doesn’t know. The girl they had seen cured had never been truly sick. Maybe it is true. Maybe there is one thing the _Nyama_ can’t heal.

Liliana disappears inside. The smell inside is just as bad as the first time, maybe even worse. It’s almost unbearable, but Shigehiro makes an effort not to show it. Kuroko closes the door behind them, sinking them back into the dim half-light. Like this, Lahja seems like an old woman, with shadows stretching on her face. 

“Where should I put these?” He asks as Liliana crouches down next to her sister.

“You should eat them. They are better when they are still hot.”

“I got them for you.” Shigehiro says. “You were asking for seconds, so I figured you’d need it.”

Liliana looks up at him. “Why would you do that?”

A slew of thoughts flit through Shigehiro’s mind. _Because I have a home I can return to. Because I won’t have to worry about food on my table. Because this is nothing to me._ He says none of them though. “You need it more than we do.”

“Right.” Liliana says after a moment’s pause. “Put it over there then. I will eat it once I have fed Lahja.”

“Anything we can help with?”

Liliana thinks for a moment. “Yes, there is. I collected some mongongo nuts yesterday and some sand apples.” She points her head towards a wrapped up bundle that lies among the mess of clothes and other things that clutters the floor. “You could prepare them. That should make the food a bit more edible.

“All right.” Shigehiro unwraps the bundle. The mongogo nuts remind him a bit of chestnuts with their shape and the sand apples are small, round fruits that look in fact like tiny apples with a coarse texture. There’s also some herbs wrapped up along with them, the sharp smell offering a welcome reprieve from the overwhelming odor of sickness.

“I guess I cut open the apples? What about the nuts?”

“No, just peel the apples. You’ll have to crack the nuts somehow. Normally, you have to cook the nuts, but if we take them outside to the fireplace they will be taken away. We’ll have to eat them raw.”

“Okay.” Shigehiro sets to work. He makes quick work of the apples with the small knife that was wrapped up along with the food, but he has no idea how to tackle the hard shell of the nuts. “Any trick to this?” He experimentally knocks the nut against the knife handle, but he can already tell it won’t be enough.

Liliana looks up from her work. She’s started feeding Lahja, spoonful after spoonful with incredible patience. Some of the mush has smeared around Lahja’s mouth and Liliana wipes it off with a gentle thumb. “That’s why we cook them normally. It makes it easier to peel them.”

“Uh-huh.” Shigehiro pushes to his feet. “I’ll go and try-“ He was going to say ‘brute force’, but is rapidly cut off by Kuroko who appears right in front of him. He takes the nuts from Shigehiro’s hands without a word. The void surges and devours the shell in a matter of moments “Or that works as well.” Shigehiro takes the nuts back. “Thanks.”

Kuroko’s lips twitch into an almost smile.

“That’s one useful skill.” Shigehiro mutters under his breath and plops back down again. “What now?” He asks louder.

“Just mix it in with the food.”

“Isn’t that a total waste? I’ve never heard of these before, but I’m sure they’re more tasty than whatever _this_ is.” He gives the brown mush a disdainful glance.

“I think it is some kind of root plant that has been puréed and cooked into oblivion.” Kuroko observes. He’s inspecting one of the bowls, poking a cautious finger into it to give it a try. The only form of reaction he gives is a miniscule twitch of his nose, but he puts the bowl down afterwards. “Lacks salt,” he says casually.

Liliana snorts. “Salt would go a long way to make it bearable. Just mix in the herbs. The nuts don’t taste that great when raw, but they’ll add some texture, if you chop them up. But keep the sand apples. They are quite good on their own.”

“Do you get served this every day?” Shigehiro asks, as he starts cutting up the herbs. He’s never seen their likes before, but they smell quite good. Almost a shame to waste them like this.

“Variants of this. Always some kind of vegetable mush. At least I think it is vegetables.”

“It’s quite ridiculous.” Shigehiro muses as he chops up the nuts into tiny bits. “There are other ways to feed a lot of people, than just smashing up food and heating it up. Just, I don’t know, throw a bunch of potatoes and cook them up. All you need is some salt and you got something, at least edible. And if you add some vegetables, that’s nice too. There’s just no reason to be gross.” He garnishes the two portions that are left with the finely chopped nuts, saving a bit for Lahja’s half-eaten one.

“I suppose this makes the least work?” Kuroko offers. “Just put something into a pot and let it boil for however long you desire. Or until it is time to serve.”

Shigehiro fakes a gagging noise. “Just the thought makes me shiver. How could you do that to perfectly good food?” He hands Liliana the fruits of his work.

“Thank you.” She says warmly. “Are you sure you don’t want any? It’s not much, but you don’t have to go hungry because of us.” She throws a glance at Kuroko. “That goes for you as well. Although, you will have to share.”

“I do not need nourishment, but thank you.” Kuroko says with a gracious tilt of his head.

 “Uh, okay?” Liliana looks unsure.

“Don’t mind him. I-“ He’s about to decline, but just then his stomach gives off a loud, distinct rumble. “I’ll have some then.” He says sheepishly. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do.” She smiles. “I had to share a portion with Lahja ever since we came here. I’ve tried to enhance the food with what I gathered, but it’s difficult to find anything. This is the first full meal I had in months.”

Shigehiro feels like something is stuck in his throat. He forces himself to eat, even though his throat is threatening to close up any moment. Liliana is spooning her own meal into her mouth in quick mechanical movements. Her eyes are set in hard lines. He can only admire her strength.

Kuroko’s face doesn’t give a sign of what he thinks, but Shigehiro for his part, feels deeply shaken. He barely tastes what he is eating. It seems like the world has been shifted out of focus. All this time they’ve hunted a dream, one they can’t even be sure is real. A dream built on countless lives they have no claim to. So many years devoted to just one life - one person.

If he could give only a fraction of this time to these two sisters. Maybe that would be enough to pay for his sins.

The first bite of sand apple turns to ash in his mouth.


	17. Tetsuya X

He’d thought solving the case of the ability killer would come with a bigger sense of relief, but all Tetsuya felt was a bone-deep exhaustion. At least with this it would finally be over. Tetsuya finished his report in Aida’s office, detailing their encounter with Kise and what had led to it. He would have to repeat the same thing in a written report, but acting fast was of the essence now.

Aida, if possible, looked even more tired than Tetsuya felt.

“It’s a good thing you caught the killer. Even if…” She shook her head. “I’m sorry for your loss. I know that means little. You were friends and-“ She cuts herself off and sighs. Aida takes a moment to compose herself. “You should take the next few days off. You have deserved it.”

Tetsuya drew his brows together. “But it’s not over yet. Kise-kun gave us an important lead.”

Aida looked pained. “I guess you haven’t gotten the news?”

Tetsuya exchanged a glance with Akashi. “I guess not?” He’d had a feeling something was wrong the moment he stepped into the station. Kagami was still on leave and everyone else had seemed to avoid his eyes.

Aida rubbed a hand over her eyes. “The case is closed.”

Tetsuya took a moment to comprehend what she said. “What?”

“It’s been called off by the council.” She said. Suddenly her exhaustion made much more sense. She sighed heavily and dragged a hand over her eyes. “The councilor has been released and the _kidnappers_ have been detained.” She set her mouth in a grim line, flicking a finger in direction of the door.Aa soft yellow shimmer appeared along its edges.

Aida was a brilliant alchemist, first and foremost, but she was also a fairly skilled witch - although her potions were notorious for their unpredictable side effects. And one of her better spells, was a mute spell.

“What do you mean, chief?” Tetsuya asked.

“This has to stay absolutely confident, am I understood?” She looked from Akashi to Tetsuya. Upon both their acquiescence, she continued, “Allegedly - and this is something _I_ allege, officially this is fact - the councilor has been abducted by a faction that sympathizes with Kinogawa’s opposition, primarily Chairwoman Shirohana’s faction. His politics have always polarized, and there have been minor cases of attempted blackmail and slander related to Kinogawa and his cabinet.

“Truthfully, if you and Kagami had not stumbled upon the cult members in Kinogawa’s home, I would have accepted this explanation. Kinogawa has a very clean image - almost conspicuously so. That and his hardliner course have oftentimes served as a source of frustration for his opposition. It makes them very logical suspects. The public is eating it up in spades. Shirohana has already lost considerable support. Of course, no direct link between her and the culprits could be found, but their alleged affiliation with her is damaging enough.”

“Am I right to assume that councilor Kinogawa’s popularity has soared in response? Just in time for the upcoming elections?” Akashi asked.

“Damn right.” Aida said darkly.

Tetsuya felt a headache coming on. “So this all was supposed to just have been a ploy to divert attention from the oppositionist faction?”

“Exactly. It all wraps up to a very nice and clean affair.” She scoffs, “how convenient.”

“What happened? How was the councilor found?”

Aida snorted. “He _escaped_. Convinced his captors that he was harmless and the moment they let their guard down, he ran. Or at least, that’s the story he tells.”

“But what about the culprits? They are not real, are they? It all hinges on Kinogawa’s words?”

“If only it were this easy. They actually caught two of the culprits. They both confessed to being part of a radical faction that has pledged their support to the chairwoman. She’s never been associated with extremists, but her course is just opposite enough of Kinogawa’s that she’s the ideal scapegoat. I assume, she’s just been a victim in all of this. She’s opposed Kinogawa for years now and her status as chairwoman has made her untouchable politically.”

Tetsuya rubbed his temples, but the pounding pain behind his skull wouldn’t abate. He was trying to make sense of it, but it just wouldn’t fit into place.

“We were not supposed to ever find the real connection, were we?” Akashi asked softly. “I assume the finger was sent as a response to Kuroko’s and Kagami’s encounter with the cultists? Not the councilor’s real finger, I presume?”

“You would be right on that too. Everything you found has been basically explained away by the two suspects. Of course, it adds up barely, and especially with Kise’s account, it is basically nil. But.” Aida clenched her fists on the desk. “The council as a whole is exerting pressure - they want this case closed. Kinogawa, of course, wants to retain his story and image, but the others want the issue gone, because it’s dragged their reputation through the mud as well. The public sympathizes with Kinogawa and is likely to side with him on any matter at the moment.”

“So even if the council is made aware of the truth, they won’t act on it?” Tetsuya asked bitterly.

“No,” Aida said heavily.

“Even if that means that countless missing person cases go ignored? That countless lives have been lost and that this cult is going to continue whatever it is they are doing?” Tetsuya’s voice was rising, unbidden. “What about-“ he swallowed past the lump that suddenly rose in his throat. “What about Kise’s sister?”

Aida opened her mouth to respond, but just then, her phone screen lit up. She glanced at it and then started cursing quite colorfully. “Listen,” she said urgently, tapping away at the screen. “Like I said, _nothing_ I said can leave the room, okay? I told you, because you deserve to know, but there is nothing we can do now. The council’s topmost interest is to smooth the waves right now.” She stood up and walked to the door, where she drew a hasty symbol onto the wood with her finger. The faint yellow glow disappeared. “If we drag this case to the surface, it would overshadow the elections. Kinogawa has presented them the option to neatly wrap everything up, so they are taking it.”

Tetsuya was stunned. Aida had never been afraid to butt heads with the council when it came to a case. It was one of the reasons their unit had such an excellent reputation. She was a woman of her word and she absolutely wouldn’t compromise.

The silence was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Despite its gentle nature, Aida almost visibly flinched. “I’m sorry, Kuroko.” She said softly. There was true regret in her voice. Her face smoothed to an inscrutable mask the moment she pulled the door open.

“Imayoshi-san.” She said with a pleasant smile. The man on the other side, tall, messy hair and eyes locked in a perpetual squint, returned the smile. There was nothing friendly about that smile.

“Aida-san. What a pleasure,” he drawled. Tetsuya caught a glint of grey from behind his eyelids as he darted a glance to Tetsuya and then Akashi beside him. He inclined his head. “Akashi, it has been a while.” There was an unidentifiable emotion in Imayoshi’s voice. Tetsuya felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

“It has,” Akashi said, tone carefully neutral.

“Please, come in,” Aida,s voice was still pleasant but rather stiff. From behind Imayoshi, Tetsuya caught the worried glances of his coworkers. He wondered if he should leave the office, but just then Aida closed the door behind Imayoshi. He took the only chair opposite Aida’s desk without a moment’s hesitation. Aida sat back down behind the desk, still radiating pleasantness, but Tetsuya could see she was rather tense underneath.

 “Now, I expect you have sufficiently explained the situation?” Imayoshi asked. It seemed his smile was just as perpetual as his squint.

“Of course,” Aida said.

“All right then. I will take Akashi back to Tateyama.”

“What?” Tetsuya took a reflexive step forward. “You can’t do that.”

Imayoshi cast a sideways glance at Aida. “I suppose it wasn’t sufficient enough.” He said, seeming almost pleased.

Aida’s smile faltered just the tiniest but, but she had herself under control instantly. “I was about to come to this part, when you interrupted.” She said.

“Ah, my bad.” He didn’t sound sorry at all.

“What is going on?” Tetsuya demanded to know. Akashi had gone tense next to him, but his face remained unreadable.

“Now now, there is no reason for aggravation, is there? Everything is neatly in order, as it should be.” Imayoshi said.

Tetsuya felt very much like he was in a bad joke. A very bad joke. “You say that, but I have no reason to listen to you. For starters, I don’t even know who you are.”

“Ah, how rude of me. I should have introduced myself.” Imayoshi’s smile seemed to become even more sinister. “I am Imayoshi Shouichi - state representative on behalf of internal, magical affairs. You might think of me as your unit’s direct superior.”

“I thought we were an independent unit with only the council as a controlling organ.” Tetsuya said almost automatically.

“That was the original intent, yes. But the council has felt that the SIU’s influence has gone unchecked for too long. After all, we can’t have an executive organ go uncontrolled. That would upset the balance, wouldn’t it?”

“That would require a balance to speak of.” Tetsuya said darkly.

“Imayoshi has been appointed only a few days ago.” Aida interjected quickly. “We have already gone through some changes.”

“Well needed changes, I might add.”

“Of course.” Aida couldn’t have sounded anymore insincere if she tried. It was quite a sight to behold truly, both Imayoshi and Aida were smiling widely, but neither held an ounce of genuine emotion in their expression.

“What changes?”

“Now that is a conversation you should have another time. I am on a rather strict schedule. The state things have been left in is less than satisfactory and I am expected to present results by the end of the month. So if you could hand over Akashi, that’d be helpful.” He nodded as though he’d requested nothing more than a report.

Tetsuya moved without thinking, blocking Imayoshi’s parh to Akashi. “You can’t take Akashi-kun.”

“And why is that?” Imayoshi’s smile had gained an even sharper edge. Behind his lids, Tetsuya could see a flicker of grey as Imayoshi opened his eyes a sliver.

“We had a contract.” Tetsuya said through gritted teeth. “Akashi-kun is free to go.”

“Ah, but he is not wearing the collar anymore, is he? But be that as it may, the contract detailed that he would attain his freedom upon successful closure of the case- at your hands I might add. Now, the case has been solved. I admit you have gathered some impressive information, but ultimately your efforts - albeit commendable - were of little contribution. As such, the contract counts as unfulfilled and the parties have to return to their status quo.”

Tetsuya forced his body to relax. He’d gain little by bodily attacking Imayoshi, regardless of how much he wanted to. “The contract was between me and Akashi-kun. Its fulfillment is up to my discretion.” He said, layering his voice with ice.

“Ah, but that is not how it works, is it now?” Imayoshi’s eyes were fully open now. The expression in their grey depths sent shivers down Tetsuya’s spine. It held not a shred of warmth. “This contract was granted to you by the council’s generosity. You may think differently now, but Akashi-kun is and always has been a very dangerous individual. To himself just as much than to others.” His eyes flicked to Akashi. “Am I not right?”

Something ugly and angry twisted in Tetsuya’s belly. He was hit by the sudden urge to wipe Imayoshi’s smug expression from his face with his fists. But before he could even decide what to do with this impulse, a gentle touch to his shoulder stopped him. The warmth of Akashi’s hand lingered, even after he had pulled back.

“You would not be wrong.” Akashi said softly. “I assume I will reprise my residence in Tateyama?”

“I’m afraid it won’t be that simple.” Imayoshi sounded almost apologetic. “The good doctor wants to see you for an extensive examination.”

“Ah well. That was to be expected.” Akashi sounded almost amused. But Tetsuya had grown so finely attuned to his emotions that he could detect the faintest trace of apprehension underneath. “Is there anything else? If not, I suggest we get going.”

Tetsuya - the fight drained from him by the simplicity of Akashi’s acceptance - could only watch on in mute horror. This wasn’t right. Over Imayoshi’s head he met Aida’s eyes, the weary, almost defeated expression in them floored him.

Imayoshi blinked once and then closed his eyes. “There are some minor details I have to discuss with Aida.  If you would like, you could say your goodbyes.” He indicated Tetsuya with a tilt of his head. It was odd to see an almost gentle expression on his face now.

“That is not necessary.” Akashi said. The words twisted in Tetsuya’s gut like a knife.

“Well then. Wait outside, will you? It won’t be long.” Akashi nodded and without a further glance at Tetsuya’s direction, he left.

Aida pressed a button on the intercom on her desk. “Kiyoshi-kun, could you come pick up Kuroko-kun?” She threw a glance his way. “And explain everything, yes. I will be there shortly.” She ended the call. 

Tetsuya felt numb. So when Kiyoshi came in and gently took his arm to lead him outside, he followed. He didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help but search for Akashi once they had left Aida’s office. He was sitting in one of the waiting chairs lined up next to the receptionist’s desk - eyes closed and seemingly deep in thought.

Tetsuya’s heart ached. His feet made to carry him over, but Kiyoshi tugged him the opposite direction. He led Tetsuya into one of the station’s common rooms for the staff. Inside, Izuki and Hyuuga were already waiting.

“What happened?” Tetsuya asked once Kiyoshi had maneuvered him into a chair. It felt surreal. And maybe that was it. Maybe this was all a dream and he would wake up and find nothing had changed. Kise was not a killer and still alive. He didn’t realize he had started crying until Izuki offered him a handkerchief.

“While you were gone, this guy - Imayoshi - came in on the council’s orders.” Hyuuga began to explain. “I don’t know if it all was planned or coincidence, but he cited the incidents you were involved with as proof that our status as independent unit was too risky.”

“It’s not your fault.” Kiyoshi hastily assured.

“He’s right.” Izuki said bitterly. “They would have found some other reason one way or another.”

“The point is, we’ve basically had out claws clipped. Every case has to be cross-checked with Imayoshi, before we can start investigating. There’s other stuff too. But we’ll explain later.”

Tetsuya stared down at his hands. They were shaking wildly before his eyes, but he could do nothing to stop it. Too many surprises at once. The biggest of which - and the thought almost made him want to scream - was just how much he truly cared for Akashi. The feeling had not been mutual apparently.

“How are you feeling?” Kiyoshi asked gently.

Tetsuya shook his head. He couldn’t name all the feelings raging in his heart. Couldn’t put words to the giant pit of despair and anger that had opened in his chest. If only he could make sense of it.

“You and Akashi, ah, you seemed close?” Hyuuga sounded awkward, but he valiantly attempted to stay composed.

“Apparently not.” Tetsuya said numbly. “I feel like I barely know him at all.”

“Well, to be honest. You barely know him for more than a few days.” Izuki offered only to be shushed by Kioyshi.

“That’s true.” Tetsuya conceded. “But I had thought I was starting to understand him better.” He felt a new wave of tears coming. This time, Tetsuya tried to swallow them down. “But that’s not all.” He needed to put Akashi out of his mind. No matter what he thought about their relationship, Akashi was his own person. And he had made his choice. There was nothing he could do. “The case,” Tetsuya swallowed, “it’s not _over_.”

“About that…” Hyuuga hesitated and then put a hand on his shoulder in comfort. The contact brought Tetsuya back for a moment - to that moment he was about to leap on Imayoshi, but Akashi had stopped him. He had thought that moment, he had thought-

Tetsuya took a deep breath. “What is it?”

“First of all, don’t think chief doesn’t know what you did. We know it must have taken a lot. And we appreciate it.” He sighed. “We really do. But our hands are tied. The council has made its decision. And Imayoshi is here to make sure we keep to the decision.”

“So everything was in vain?”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Aida said from the door. She pulled it closed behind her, but remained standing next to it.

“Imayoshi?” Hyuuga asked.

“Gone,” Aida said with an annoyed sigh. “Thank fuck for that.” She stomped over to the group of chairs and sat down on one, running an aggravated hand through her hair. “If I have to swallow one more _request_ from that guy, I will introduce his face intimately to a wall.”

“I’m sure Imayoshi has as little choice in this as we do.” Kiyoshi said, placating.

Tetsuya expected Aida to contradict him, but instead she sighed. “You might be right on that.”

“Chief, just what is going on?” Tetsuya asked.

“Exactly what it seems like. We have been put on a leash.” She grimaced. “Not that I am about to take it lying down. But we can’t act openly.”

“What about-“ Tetsuya had to force a calm he did not feel. But this was business. “What about Akashi? The thing about the contract, it’s a farce, isn’t it?”

“You bet your ass it is.” Aida muttered. “The whole thing _reeks_. I have my theories, but nothing concrete.”

“The council has been compromised.” Izuki said. There was an odd glint in his silver-grey eyes. A moment later, Izuki blinked and his eyes had returned to normal.

Aida regarded him for a moment. “I was afraid of that.” She said almost softly. “But yes, it seems like it. The council has always been too wrapped up in politics, but they were at least somewhat concerned about the public’s wellbeing. If only to appease their voter base.  But this is an all time low. What Imayoshi is doing could be considered damage control. If not he I don’t dare to imagine who would be breathing down our necks.”

“What about Akashi?” He hadn’t meant to ask, but the question came out anyway.

“Good question. How does he fit into this?” Izuki asked. “Why is the council so interested in him?”

“I can’t say. And that is what worries me. He’s powerful for one thing. And he was supposed to get a free pass after this. Well, it seems they never intended to let him go. But what worries me more is why he went along with it.”

“What if he hadn’t? He has the potential to kill us all.” Tetsuya could hear how mechanical his voice sounded. But he was too exhausted to care.

Aida’s smile was grim. “Imayoshi assured me that there would be no incident. I didn’t believe him. But I have to confess, I didn’t have a contingency plan.”

“That’s all nice and well, but shouldn’t we decide what to do now?” Izuki asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Hyuuga replied. He closed his hand in a fist, face grim. “We plan for battle.”

“No, we won’t.” Aida said stonily. Hyuuga’s battle pose collapsed as quickly as he’d summoned it. He looked at Aida in open shock, same as the others. “As much as I’d like to, we don’t know enough. And we are under tight supervision.” She nodded her head. “For now we will lay low and gather intelligence.” She pushed off her chair with newfound determination. “Kuroko I am giving you the rest of the week and next week off. You have earned it.” She wasn’t looking at him, but Tetsuya felt there was something in her words he couldn’t grasp.

“You should pay Kagami a visit.” She added when she stepped through the door.

Kagami had been released from the hospital, but was still on sick leave by order from Aida. But Kagami, being the thick-headed basketball idiot he was, had no intention of sitting around at home doing nothing.

So his text in response to Tetsuya’s inquiry to meet simply read: _sure meet u at the court behind my apartment._

Kagami was already busy throwing hoops when Tetsuya arrived. The sight had something soothing, a calming nature that his nerves clearly needed. Still. “Kagami-kun, you should be resting,” Tetsuya said from the gate in the chain link fence that surrounded the court.

Kagami gave off a startled yelp and promptly threw the ball off somewhere into the bushes.  “Damn it, Kuroko,” he grumbled with no real heat and went to retrieve the ball.

“Kagami-kun definitely needs to recover. It has been a while since the last time I was able to sneak up on him.” Tetsuya closed the gate behind him. It was almost odd how calming Kagami’s mere presence was to his mood. He was still upset, but everything seemed just a tiny bit brighter now.

“I was concentrating.” Kagami insisted. “And I forgot the time.”

“Fair enough. Still, you should not be moving so much.”

Kagami shrugged and then winced. “Yeah,” he muttered, rubbing his shoulder. “You might be right. I just can’t sit still you know? I feel like I’m growing roots.” He walked over to where Tetsuya had sat down on the bench, tossing the ball from one hand into the other.

“How is your shoulder?”

“Better. Mostly.” Taiga threw the ball up and caught it spinning on his finger. He was, Tetsuya noted, moving slightly slower than before the attack. “The curse has been removed and the muscle regrown, but there’s still some soreness. The doctor said I should be fine if I keep using the muscles regularly. It’ll kink out the last bits of the curse.”

“I am sure the doctor did not imply basketball practice in this.” Tetsuya noted.

Kagami grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I know.”

“But I understand.” Tetsuya added. “Kagami-kun is after all a basketball idiot.”

“Oi.” Offended, Kagami started ruffling Tetsuya’s hair with too much force, the way he always did when Tetsuya had said something mean. It was a well-oiled and well-used routine between them. And for a moment they were just that, two friends goofing around after a grueling game of basketball. And Aomine and Kise would still be out on the court, Kise never tired of challenging Aomine until he could finally score a victory. Momoi would sit on the bench as usual. And maybe, on a rare day if he would feel up to it, Midorima would come and join them with Takao on his heels.

And maybe, one day, Akashi would be implicated into their group.

It was odd to think like that now. Tetsuya hadn’t realized that this was something he had wanted. He had met Akashi under extraordinary circumstances; their entire relationship had seemed to be buoyed by the strange nature of their adventure. And maybe that was what had ultimately misled him. Maybe their relationship could only function under these circumstances. And maybe Tetsuya had just been too stupid to see it.

“Am I a fool Kagami-kun?” he asked.

Kagami’s response was immediate and without a doubt, “of course not.” To him that fact did not seem to warrant a debate. Tetsuya felt warmth spread in his chest.

“I am not sure about that.” He said.

 Kagami nudged his shoulder with his in a friendly gesture. “It’s not like you to be this negative.”  Kagami leaned over and rummaged through his bag until he pulled out a large packed bento box. He’d already emptied an entire bottle of pocari sweat. “Here,” Kagami offered him a pair of chop sticks and placed the bento box between them. It was multi-layered and the smell emitting from it was delicious.

“I’m not hungry.” Tetsuya confessed.

“Then just eat what you can.” Kagami said easily. “I’ll take care of the rest.” He nudged a particularly good looking piece of fried chicken towards Tetsuya. He picked it up and it  bit into it, mostly to appease Kagami, but when the flavor hit him, he realized just how hungry he was.

“I always feel better when I eat.” Kagami confessed. “Things look different with a full stomach.”

“I wish it were always that simple.”

“I don’t know about that. Maybe it is a simple problem. Tell me about it.”

Tetsuya felt a smile tug at his lips, despite the circumstances. He had truly missed his friend. “All right. But it is a long and complicated story.”

Kagami shrugged. “I have time. And food. I’m good.”

So Tetsuya started laying out the details of his time with Akashi. Even the parts that were painful, even the parts he had a hard time coming to terms with himself. It was no easy feat to lay his soul bare like this, but once he was done, Tetsuya felt significantly lighter.

“I don’t know.” Kagami said with a thoughtful expression. “Sounds messed up yeah, but I get the feeling he wanted to protect you.”

Tetsuya’s heart did a painful flip, as hope suddenly spread in his chest. “What makes you say that?” he carefully asked.

“I don’t know. It’s just what I would have done. I mean, he almost lost control there. So I guess, walking away was the right thing to do.”

“But why would he even care?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Kagami asked with honest confusion. “He likes you, right?”

“I don’t know.” Tetsuya felt the urge to bury his face in his hands. “I don’t know.” He repeated dully.

“Hm,” Kagami scratched his head. “My logic on this might be faulty, but why else would he go back to Tateyama? I mean, he has no reason to, has he? That place sounds awful to be honest. I’d rather be locked up with a herd of dogs than go there.”

“It’s pack of dogs.” Tetsuya corrected automatically.

Kagami waved him away. “The point is, it makes sense like this, doesn’t it? He likes you so he goes where he can’t hurt you. I mean it’s a totally dumb thing to do, but what do I know?”

“A lot, apparently.” Could it be true? Tetsuya tried to analyze their past interactions through the lens of what Kagami had just told him. He’d been antagonistic at first, but even then he had tried to help Tetsuya. And later, he had seemed almost tender at times, looking at Tetsuya with an expression that Tetsuya had not dared to name.

He swallowed. “Maybe you are right.” He said quietly. Or maybe he was simply grasping at straw’s hope. “But why go this far?”

“This might come out mean, but I don’t get the feeling the guy has much experience dealing with people. I mean, he must have been raised privately at home and stuff and he generally seems like the kind of person who’d be kind of distant towards others. I don’t know him, but that’s how it seems from what you say. So maybe that’s the only thing he could come up with.”

“But Kagami-kun said he would have done the same.”

“Yeah well, I would have tried to protect you too. But not by locking myself up. I would have found a way to make sure I’d never hurt you. But I guess, that’s not really a problem. I could never hurt you. You’re my partner.”

Tetsuya felt warm. “Thank you.”

“And I know this is late, but I’m sorry. You know, about Kise.” Kagami sighed. He’d finished the bento earlier, but now he looked as though he kind of regretted it.

“He was your friend too.” Tetsuya said gently.

“Yeah, he was.” A note of sadness had entered Kagami’s voice. “But you were there when he…” He made a loose hand gesture to imply what he meant. “I can’t imagine that was easy. I mean he- he was…“ Kagami swallowed. “He was Kise,” he ended lamely. “I still can’t quite believe that he’s really gone. It feels like he’s going to come through the gate and glomp you any moment now.”

“Yeah,” Tetsuya agreed. “He was.” There really was no better way to describe the person that had been Kise Ryouta.

“About Momoi too. About everything really. That’s not something anyone should go through.”

Tetsuya nodded. “Maybe you should ask Aomine for a one-on-one.” He suggested. “He’d like that.”

“He’d never say so.” Kagami said with a weak grin. “But I guess you’re right. Once I’m back to full strength, I’ll kick his ass.” He sobered up a moment later. “For Kise’s sake too. Someone has to.”

“True,” Tetsuya murmured.

He still felt like a giant weight was pressing down on him, but at least now he knew what to do. He had to get Akashi back.


	18. Shigehiro VIII

Lahja’s condition worsens the following day. Large protruding veins creep towards her eyes and her sleep becomes even more fitful. Around midday she starts keening, a low pitiful sound that makes something ugly twist in Shigehiro’s stomach.

It only gets worse from there.

Liliana sends Shigehiro and Kuroko out to get them lunch. Without Liliana there to part their way, they have to queue just like everyone else. Shigehiro asks for a third bowl, but to no avail. The eyes that follow them are none too kind. In the background, Lahja’s wails cut through the air like an audible knife.

“You don’t have to stay.” Liliana says in one of Lahja’s rare breaks. She’s fallen back into a deeper slumber, but she still thrashes every now and then. Her eye lids have swollen into grotesque, bloated shapes and there is a constant trickle of blood coming from her nose. Liliana has given up her efforts to wipe it off. She’s sitting on her butt, legs pulled against her chest and gently rocking back and forth. “You can leave.” She says with a hollow, drained voice. Her eyes look like she hasn’t blinked for hours.

Shigehiro shifts, relaxing his cramped muscles. He would have to lie to say he didn’t want to leave. Lahja is an eerie sight, the way her body convulses, throwing her into fit after fit. The bloated veins have started to burst, releasing a foul smelling mixture of pus and blood. He feels tainted just by breathing in the air. But he can’t leave.

He can’t quite remember why, but he knows he can’t leave. Lahja starts keening again and Shigehiro’s thoughts fizzle to a stop.

His eyes feel like he hasn’t blinked for hours.

Dawn breaks and Lahja wakes to what Shigehiro expects to be her last time. She can’t open her eyes anymore and her voice is as weak as a sigh. “I’m sorry Lil,” she murmurs. It’s the first thing Shigehiro hears her say. Blood drips from her lips and nose, a deep contrast to the deathly pallor of her skin. The bloated veins that cover her face seem to pulse with the beating of her heart.

“Don’t.” Liliana is choking on her tears.

Shigehiro feels like an intruder. But he can’t leave without drawing attention to himself, so he remains sitting, his back against the wall.

“You’ll be fine.” Lahja whispers. “You’ve always been the stronger one.”

“You’re a liar.” Liliana says and Lahja - broken as it may sound - laughs. Liliana squeezes her eyes shut, but tears spill forth all the same. The two witch lamps flicker as though disturbed by a breeze.

“I’m sorry.” Lahja says again. “I wanted to tell you that it’s okay. That I’ll be fine, but-“ her face contorts into a mask of grief. “I don’t want to die.” Fat red-tinted tears spill from under her swollen eye lids. “I wanted to be strong for you, but I can’t. Lil - I’m scared.” She reaches out, blindly groping for her sister. Liliana takes her hand and squeezes with desperate force.

“I’m here.” She whispers. “Please, Lahja I-“

“Tell me you’ll be fine.” Lahja interrupts. “Please, Lil. Tell me, you can be strong without me. I don’t want to leave you, but it hurts too much. I just want it to end. Please tell me you won’t hate me for being a coward.”

“How could I hate you? Lahja, I love you. I just wish I could do something. This isn’t fair.” She almost shouts the last part.

“It never is. But I can’t even be angry anymore. I just want it to end.”

“It’s not fair.” Liliana repeats, angry now. “The cure is right here. Aurum has no right to-“

Lahja convulses suddenly, whole body being thrown into a violent fit. She coughs, or tries to and bloods splatters in thick, viscous drops from her mouth. The veins on her face burst open, releasing a new wave of pus and stench.

Liliana grabs her sister’s face in her hands, shaking as she tries to draw Lahja’s attention back to her. But it is pointless. Lahja’s face is a bloody mess and she seems to have trouble breathing. Her mouth works as though to speak but all that comes out are short, pained gasps.

Finally, the dam breaks and Liliana gives up the hold she has on her emotions. She cries openly, grasping her sister’s limp body and begging her to stay. Lahja doesn’t respond. Her eyes - with the bulging veins finally burst open - are wide and unseeing. She will never see again.

Shigehiro flees the shed to throw up behind a few bushes.

“Is that what you meant?” Kuroko asks him what feels like hours later. The sun has barely risen over the horizon, but already the camp is bustling. News of Lahja’s death have traveled and it didn’t take long for people to show up and offer their condolences.

Somewhere, beyond the haze, Shigehiro is almost amused at this. It seems the fear of Lahja’s disease has died with her. He wants to laugh when he sees the genuine sympathy on their faces. He sees Mochida’s face in front of his inner eye and the urge to laugh becomes one to cry.

“That depends on what you are referring to.” Shigehiro can’t even dredge up the will to sound as though he cares.

“That this is what we have to experience? Death?”

It’s either crying or laughing again, so Shigehiro gives in and laughs. “That is nothing either of us have to experience.” He doesn’t know how Liliana can take it. She’s gone and helped the others burn down the shed - tainted by Lahja’s sickness - and now she’s off somewhere, digging her sister’s grave. There’s been volunteers to help her, but she insists on doing it alone. Lahja is not the first who has died since their arrival. People in this camp die all the time, but somehow Shigehiro hadn’t noticed a single one of them. There were just faces in a crowd.

“I don’t understand.” Kuroko kneels down next to him, uncaring if the muddy ground near the riverbank soils his pants. “None of this is unexpected. So what was the point?”

“There is no point.” Shigehiro says hollowly. “There never has been a point. All of it has been pointless.”

“Why is Ogiwara-kun grieving then?”

Ogiwara grabs a stone and flings it into the river. His anger doesn’t quell. But he’s been carrying around this anger for a long time now, ever since he learned of Mochida’s death, maybe even before then. And he had let it be, because he had known stirring it would break free the grief buried underneath.

“Because I am human.” He says. He had meant to make it bite, but it comes out defeated instead.

Aurum invites them for dinner that day. The invitation comes out of nowhere, just as they were preparing to line up for another portion of unidentifiable slime. Kuroko hasn’t pressed on it, but Shigehiro knows he wants to find the stone as soon as possible. But Shigehiro feels static, tethered to this place and unable to move on.

He sees Mochida’s face in the shadows under Liliana’s eyes and he wonders how he could ever think he could outrun his pain. It had felt so unreal to learn of Mochida’s demise, he hadn’t quite been able to process it. Seeing Lahja die had dragged up all the repressed emotions tied to his loss.

Liliana had taken the news surprisingly well, although complete indifference can’t exactly be considered a healthy coping mechanism.

“You can ask him where he keeps the stone.” Shigehiro says to Kuroko as they make their way up towards Aurum’s hut.

“I doubt he will tell me outright.” Kuroko says after a short moment’s deliberation.

Shigehiro shrugs. “We can at least try and get some hints.” He sighs. It’s difficult to summon enough interest to actually care, but like this, at least he doesn’t have to think of his own grief. Just focusing on something else, helps. “At least like this, it won’t be in vain.”

They trail behind Liliana and Aurum’s servant, both locked in an icy silence. Shigehiro is not worried that they could be overheard. Kuroko habitually shields their conversations.

“I suppose this is where I offer my condolences?” Kuroko asks.

Shigehiro huffs a laugh that seems to claw its way out of his throat. “I didn’t lose someone.”

Kuroko tilts his head. “Does it make a difference?”

“No,” Shigehiro shuts his eyes briefly. His bid for strength offers little, but at least it keeps the tears at bay. “Was it ever like this for you?”

“Like what?”

Shigehiro sighs again. “Never mind. I will be fine eventually. I just need time.” That’s how it goes, isn’t it? He remembers from long ago, that he was grief-stricken after the orphanage burned down. But he doesn’t remember the feeling itself, or how he coped with it. It is too long ago, the memories have turned hazy and inconcrete.

At least, he thinks, that offers up some hope.

Aurum’s dwelling offers a rather large contrast to the derelict conditions outside. The outside of the hut is misguiding as it possesses the same raw hewn walls that all the other huts do, but inside the sight is an entirely different one. The walls are hung with tapestries, the kind one would expect in some old Lord’s castle, showing scenes of triumph and victory. There are small tables crammed into every available corner, decked with trinkets of indiscernible value. Canvases lean stacked against one wall, while a large bowl holds all kinds of gems and jewels.

“Gifts, all gifts,” Aurum says with a pleased smile. “Indeed, I am very gifted.” He laughs as if he has just made a particular funny joke. He is a small man; smaller even than Kuroko and his appearance is yet another stark contrast to their surroundings. Where the interior is over laden with wealth, Aurum is dressed almost modestly in white linen garments. He has his head shaved bald and the only piece of jewelry he wears is a golden ring with a tiny blue stone through his left nostril.

Shigehiro remembers vividly the unmasked cruelty he had seen the first day they arrived - it is hard to reconcile that memory with the man he sees now. The first thing he did was pulling Liliana into a bone crushing hug, reassuring her how sorry he was for the loss of her sister. Liliana had accepted the hug with a wooden expression and had said nothing in response.

She had been odd ever since she returned from digging her sister’s grave - the body still resting in its period of magical cleansing. Now that the body was dead and bereft of magic, the rot had vanished with it. Liliana hadn’t said a word since she returned. Even the news of Aurum’s invitation had not caused a significant reaction.

“I must apologize for not inviting you earlier, but I had no idea,” he shakes his head morosely, “no idea what esteemed guests I had.” He flashes a charming smile that goes ignored by both Kuroko and Liliana.

Shigehiro attempts, but it surely must look like a weak imitation. He doesn’t know why he’s bothering. He doesn’t want to care about upholding pretenses, but something compels him to do so all the same. It’s simply been too long a too big of a part of him to just ignore now.

“I didn’t know we were that famous.” Shigehiro speaks more out of an attempt to say _anything_ rather than true interest. “You sure you got the right people? We’re just… travelers.” It sounds weak even to his own ears and Aurum is very much aware of it.

“Ah, but you are.” Aurum waves his comment away. “You are legends. Not many have heard of you, mind you. And even fewer believe, but once I saw you, I knew it was all true.”

Kuroko gives no sign of a reaction. No surprise or indication he has heard any of this before. Shigehiro wishes he were anywhere but here. There was a time he’d have liked to hear stories about himself, but now he couldn’t have cared less.

“I can’t imagine.” He says weakly. Aurum has led them into yet another lavishly decorated room, this one serving as a dining room. From the outside, the hut hadn’t seemed that big, but the inside is quite expansive. Maybe there is magic at work here. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen this kind of thing. Bags with distorted spatial properties have always been popular.

“Sit down, sit down. I’ll tell you all about the legends, if you like? I am a collector, you see. And I have of course collected all kinds of stories as well.”

“That’s… great.” Shigehiro sits down as told, feeling weary to his bones. Aurum seems like he’s constantly acting out a movie role. Some kind of fantasy King who’s collected all the wealth of the world.

“It is, isn’t it? I consider myself quite the connoisseur of all things wealthy. That includes, of course, the wealth of mind.” Aurum waits until all of them are seated and then claps his hands. On cue, the door opens and a bunch of servants walk in, carrying trays with food and drinks. Like everything else, the selection is lavish and overwhelming. Shigehiro feels his stomach curdle with nausea.

Liliana stares down at her plate with a grim set to her mouth, ignoring everything else around her. Kuroko watches the people with quiet interest. Or he is spacing off, it’s hard to tell with him. Shigehiro realizes with mounting dread that it is indeed up to him to keep the conversation going.  

“So what about those legends you mentioned?” He asks, after the servants have left. He doesn’t think there is an order to the dishes. There’s salads and soups next to an entire roasted pig, mounts of cooked and seasoned grains he has no name for, vegetables, grilled meat and even a few bowls of dessert. Some of the dishes he has never seen before, something traditional Namibian maybe, others are definitely influenced by Western cuisine.

At least, Shigehiro thinks drily, there is also a rather large selection of alcohol to choose from. He fills his glass with the contents of the next bottle in reach - some red wine.

“Ah, yes. The legendary shadow walker. There are not a lot of stories to go around and some of them contradict each others. As is the nature of these things. But a few things seem true in all of them. He walks the shadows in search of treasure.” He pauses in the effort of piling as much food as possible on his plate to gaze at Kuroko with a glint in his eyes. “One treasure in particular some legends insist.”

There is some faint alarm at the back of his mind, but the strong, sweet taste of berry wine on his tongue numbs Shigehiro’s capacity to truly care. He pours himself another glass.

Aurum’s smile is sharp-edged, but it glances right off his audience’s varying states of indifference. He is unperturbed. “Then there are the legends that say he is immortal, feasts on human souls and other ridiculous nonsense.” He laughs and reaches for his own glass. “It is not always easy to separate truth from legend. But I am fairly convinced I got everything sorted right.” His eyes flicker back to Kuroko. “Or what would you say?”

“I would not know.” Kuroko says dully. He hasn’t touched his food at all. “I have never heard these legends.”

Aurum’s amiable expression flickers as a hint of annoyance creeps into his eyes. “But surely, you can tell me the reality of it?”

“Why would I?”

One of Aurum’s eyebrows twitches. “See it as a courtesy as my guests.” He offers. “It costs you little to satisfy my curiosity.”

Kuroko regards him for a long moment. “It is true.” He eventually says. “I am looking for a treasure. I have been told to mind my manners, so I refrained from just taking it. As you surely are aware I am capable of.”

Liliana, who had stared at the wall for the entire time without a word, suddenly turns her attention to the conversation. Even Shigehiro is drawn from his wine-induced numbness by the tension that suddenly fills the air.

“Ah, but I am sure in this case you would find it harder than usually to obtain what you want. Knowing the legends, of course, I am adequately prepared.”

“I doubt so,” Shigehiro hears himself say to his own surprise.

“How so?” Aurum asks with keen interest.

“You may be prepared, but that doesn’t mean you know what to expect from the real deal.” Shigehiro raises his wine glass in salute to Kuroko. It fills him with strange satisfaction to see a slight crease of worry appear between Kuroko’s eyes. There is an unfamiliar destructive side to his thoughts and he feels no reason to hold back. “How did you even figure it out?”

“Well, it was only a matter of time, was it not? If the rumors were true that was. And when you and your friend showed up…” Aurum’s smile is sharp. “It was obvious that you were not here for a cure. And your friend displayed some impressive magic. Of course, it could be a coincidence, so I did some research. They are few, but there are descriptions of you.” He nods towards Kuroko.”

“And what do you want now?” Shigehiro asks. He reaches again for the bottle of wine, but his attention is diverted and he misses by a rather large margin. He hadn’t drunken that much, had he? “Why invite us in, when you know what we are after?”

“Curiosity mostly. I wanted to know what you are like. And of course, I am deeply interested in that power of yours.”

 “It can kill you. What more do you need to know.”

“But that’s not all it does, is it now?” Aurum leans forward, a hungry glint in his eyes. “There is a reason they call you the shadow walker, isn’t there?”

“Wow, you truly are a beacon of intelligence.” Shigehiro mutters under his breath. The world is kind of shifting in front of his eyes, but he finally manages to grab the bottle. “He’s called the shadow walker because he walks through shadows. Who would have guessed?”

“Ogiwara-kun.” Kuroko’s worry stabs through the haze in his mind. Shigehiro blinks. A large red stain has blossomed on the table cloth. He has missed the glass and poured everything on the table.

Aurum clicks his tongue. “You’re not quite normal either, are you?”

“Wow, rude.” Shigehiro says.

Kuroko gently pries the bottle from his hand and puts it down. Shigehiro’s mind feels like it’s been split in half. One part is finding this whole situation ridiculously funny, the other is deeply unsettled at his own uncharacteristic behavior. 

“You put something in the food, didn’t you?” Liliana suddenly asks.

Aurum shrugs. “I might have. Not that either of you would appreciate it.”

Liliana scoffs. “I should have expected nothing less from you.” She shoves her chair back and stands. “Excuse me, I have lost my appetite.” She turns and walks out the door.

“We should head out as well.” Kuroko says. He still has a hand on Shigehiro’s shoulder, maybe unconsciously so, but Shigehiro finds it’s very much reassuring. The effect of the wine or whatever it was is slowly fading, but he is left with a bitter aftertaste on his tongue. He has little doubt that he would have answered all of Aurum’s questions honestly, without any hesitation.

“A shame, really.” Aurum indicates the table. “Let all this food go to waste.”

“How about you serve it to the people outside?” Shigehiro asks icily. “Oh no wait, you _poisoned_ it. Wow, how’s that for wasting food?”

“I didn’t poison the _food_.” Aurum clicks his tongue. “Only the drinks.” He smirks and picks up something that looks like a chicken leg. “I wouldn’t want to waste all the good stuff.” With that he bites into the meat.

“You know what, we should just go and take the stone.” Shigehiro mutters under his breath. Kuroko pulls his hand away and Shigehiro inadvertently slumps back in his seat. He feels like shit. He accepts the hand Kuroko holds out to him, relieved at the support.

“For that you would have to find it first.” Aurum says with a pleased smile. I understand you can go anywhere you want, but that doesn’t help if you don’t know the stone’s location. Besides,” Aurum’s smile is made all the more repulsing by the meat sauce dripping from his chin, “what about all those poor souls out there?” His laugh follows them out the door.

“Here, you look like you need it.”

Shigehiro takes the bottle Liliana has offered him. It’s glass, unmarked and contains a deep brown liquid. “What is it?” He’s wary of drinks now, he still feels the aftereffect of Aurum’s poisoning.

“Hazelnut liquor.” She says. “Don’t ask me where I got it, I wouldn’t tell you anyway.”

Shigehiro’s lips spread into a weak grin. “I couldn’t care less where you got it. As long as it isn’t laced with something funny.”

“Just about 40% of alcohol I would say. Is that funny enough?”

“It is acceptable.” Shigehiro uncorks the bottle and takes a deep swig. The liquor runs down his throat, warm and with an aftertaste of nut. “It’s good,” he says and hands it back to Liliana.

 “I know,” she replies and lifts the bottle to her lips. For a while that’s all they do, passing the bottle back and forth between them. Shigehiro feels a pleasant haze settle on his thoughts. He leans back in the prickly grass that lines the river bank and stares up at the night sky. Out here, there is no light pollution to hide away the stars. He draws maps between unfamiliar constellations, wondering if the emptiness between them could match up the emptiness in Kuroko’s soul.

“Where is your shadow?” Liliana asks almost on cue.

“I don’t know.” Shigehiro accepts the bottle and takes a swig. He has to tilt it up high. It’s almost empty.

“Looking for the treasure?” She asks.

There might be some hidden agenda in her question, but Shigehiro could neither tell nor does he care. “Maybe,” he says. “But it’s hidden, apparently. He can go anyplace he wants, but if he doesn’t know where it is, he has to look like anyone else.”

“He could just force it out of Aurum.” Liliana says. She takes the last sip from the bottle and drops it on the ground before lying on her back to gaze up at the stars. “If he’s really that powerful.”

“He could have.” Shigehiro muses. “But I rarely know why he’s doing what he does or doesn’t. It’s not that I truly understand him.” Even now, he doesn’t think he could ever fathom the love Kuroko must have felt at some point to go to these lengths. Or maybe it was never love. Maybe it had always been about guilt and a debt that needed to be repaid.

“Sounds harsh.” Liliana says. “It must be tough to keep up with him.”

Suddenly, the stars seem to burn too brightly. Shigehiro closes his eyes. “It is.” And once he had known why it had been worth it. But that is merely a thought floating at the surface of his mind. Underneath, he feels oddly content. He doesn’t know Liliana all that well, but he feels connected to her somehow. They both have recently lost someone.

“So what is it, that treasure you hunt?”

“It’s a stone that can heal everything. Even death.”

Liliana hums. “So is that what’s in the water?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how he does it. I guess the magic just seeps into the water somehow.”

“So what you are after, you want to bring someone back to life?”

Mochida’s face swims in front of Shigehiro’s inner eye. The pain is still fresh. ”Yeah,” he says. His voice comes out hoarsely. He’s lost Mochida. Liliana has lost her twin. There’s Momoi who will live eternally as a doll. Midori, who had nothing to do with this and who got caught in the crossfire anyway. And the children in the orphanage whose faces he can no longer remember. How many more lost ones are there?

“Who is it?”

“Kuroko’s lover.”

“She must have been special.” Liliana muses. “For you to go to these lengths.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Shigehiro mumbles. He feels content and sleepy and has no more energy to open his eyes. He feels himself drifting off. At the verge of falling asleep, he thinks for a moment he hears the words ‘I’m sorry’ whispered, but he loses the thought to the embrace of sleep.

Shigehiro wakes to a pounding headache, the sensation that something crawled in his mouth and died and the insistent feeling that something is wrong. He struggles into an upright position and tries to spit out the gross taste from his mouth. Nearby, he spots the empty bottle of hazelnut liquor, lying innocuously in the grass where Liliana had dropped it.

Liliana.

Shigehiro looks around, but she is nowhere in sight. The sun is just peeking over the horizon, bathing the new day in faint light. He stumbles to his feet. The events of the previous night are hazy, but slowly gain clarity in his mind. They had talked and drunk liquor. Liliana had asked him something, but he doesn’t remember what it was. Only that it was important.

Since Kuroko will show up in his own time, Shigehiro decides to look for Liliana.

He reaches the camp site and finds a large crowd assembled in front of Aurum’s hut. They are oddly quiet for a crowd this size - nearly everyone in the camp - and Shigehiro’s bad feeling intensifies. The atmosphere is one of quiet anticipation.

“What’s going on?” He asks one of the men at the back.

The man throws him a glance, before turning his attention back to the front. “We’re waiting for the speech.” He grumbles.

“Speech?” Shigehiro asks.

“Yeah, speech. Someone died yesterday. Aurum always gives a speech when that happens. After, we can bury the body.”

“I see.” Shigehiro says. “What does he say?”

The man shrugs. “He pays homage to the departed. Reminds everyone that life is precious.”

“Wouldn’t it be way better if he just, you know, healed the people here? If he’s so convinced life is precious?”

The man turns his full attention to Shigehiro. “Listen, kid. I don’t make the rules. Aurum can’t just walk around doing miracles. Remember what happened to the last man who did that? So he’s got to ration it. It’s called Triage, look it up. And the girl, honestly, she was beyond saving. No point in wasting resources on a dying girl. And I’d say it’s pretty damn nice of him to send her off. Aurum is a good guy and I’m not going to let you slander him.”

“Okay,” Shigehiro says, “I didn’t mean to offend you.” Just to be safe, he takes a few steps back. The man glares at him a moment longer, before turning his attention back to the hut.

Shigehiro looks around the crowd, but Liliana is nowhere in sight. She has no high opinion of Aurum, so it’s not that surprising that she’s not here, but wouldn’t she at least want to see her sister’s burial? Since there’s only one place he knows to look for her, Shigehiro makes a quick detour to Liliana’s hut. It’s a smoking ruin, but her stuff still lies there next to it on a messy pile - untouched.

For lack of better options, he decides to return to Aurum’s hut. He has little hope, but maybe Aurum can tell him where she is. He makes a detour past the well to rinse away the aftertaste from his tongue. When he returns, he finds the atmosphere has changed. People are agitated, whispering among themselves and it doesn’t take long to gather that Aurum is apparently late.

“Could something have happened to him?” One woman with rashes on her face asks her neighbor who shushes her almost angrily.

“Don’t speak like that. It brings bad luck.”

“Ogiwara-kun.” The voice is accompanied by a soft touch to his elbow. It startles him and sends his heart into overdrive. Unfortunately, it also exacerbates his headache by a felt tenfold. It has been a while since Kuroko’s sudden appearance has startled him.

“Don’t ever do that again.” He groans, rubbing his throbbing temples. 

“I apologize. But we have a problem.”

“I can see that.”

Kuroko frowns and then looks at the gathered people. “Ah, right. Aurum is dead. But that was not what I meant.”

“Uh, what?” Shigehiro takes a moment to process the information.

“What do you mean, he is dead?” One of the onlookers asks.

Shigehiro opens his mouth to salvage the situation, but already the news have spread. Within moments, the whole crowd has surged towards them, desperately demanding answers.

A faint brush against his arm and the world is sucked into black around him. The moment the world comes back into focus, Shigehiro bends over and throws up the contents of his stomach. “Okay, remind me to never ever drink again.”

“Are you alright?” Kuroko sounds genuinely worried.

“I will be. I’m just hung over.”

“Is it the poison?”

“No, just alcohol. Ah, I drank with Liliana yesterday, but now I can’t find her anywhere.”

Kuroko’s expression notably darkens. “That is the problem.” He nods towards the mine entrance they conveniently landed in front of. Two men - he recognizes them from the day of their arrival as the guards at the barricade - lie on the ground. One has a rather large puddle of blood around his head.

“Are they dead?” Shigehiro feels his stomach go queasy again and braces himself.

“No, just unconscious.”

“Shouldn’t we… uh, fix them up? They could die like this.”

“It is only a superficial wound and won’t do any lasting harm. Head wounds always bleed strongly.”

“Okay. Then what’s going on? Who did this? And what happened to Aurum?” Kuroko is already walking into the mine so Shigehiro quickly follows.

“I have located the stone but I can’t reach it. It is contained in a magical force field. If I interrupt the force field, the stone will drop down a deep chasm. There is no way for me to reach the stone.”

“And you can’t just teleport into the chasm, because, let me guess, it is too narrow for a human?”

“Exactly.”

Shigehiro hums in acknowledgement. Kuroko leads him down a mine shaft that is lit by glowing veins of enchanted stone that trail along the walls.

“Okay.” Shigehiro already regrets going inside the mine. The damp air isn’t exactly helping with his headache. “So how does Liliana fit into this?”

“She killed Aurum.”

“Yes, I gathered.”

“And now she is after the stone.”

“But how does she even- oh shit.”

“What is it?”

“Remember when I said I was drinking yesterday? Yeah, I might have told her about the stone. I was drunk.”

Kuroko lets out a tiny sigh. “It doesn’t really matter. She would have figured it out one way or another.” There is an almost rueful note to Kuroko’s expression. “I would have.” He says softly.

Before Shigehiro can ask, they have reached large opening in the shaft, a sort of cavern. The veins of light circle the entire width of the cavern, but due to its size, the light just barely reaches the center. There, the cavern floor suddenly dips and opens up to a deep chasm. Above the chasm floats a big blue orb, in whose center a small stone hangs suspended. The ground near that area is uneven and offers no proper foothold. Even reaching the orb is difficult.

“How do we-“ he’s cut off by a sudden dragging sound. It takes a moment to locate its origin. There, on one of the stalactites growing from the ceiling, a figure is climbing downward. Shigehiro squints. He can just barely make out her features, but it’s Liliana.

Shigehiro walks as close as he can and calls out to her. She stops momentarily in her descent to look at him, but doesn’t respond.

“We need to get her down there.” He says to Kuroko. “She could hurt herself.” She’s not directly above the chasm, but if she fell, there is a good chance she’d end up sliding down. The chasm is wide enough to let a human through, but must get narrower the further down it goes. She’d end up stuck.

“You can’t stop me,” she snaps at them. And then, with surprising athleticism, she swings down, held up only by her legs wrapped around the stone and reaches for the orb. Something in her hand catches Shigehiro’s attention. It is a small ring with a blue stone - the nose ring he’d seen Aurum wear earlier. The barrier flickers when it comes into contact with the ring and Liliana can reach right through it. She grabs the stone and swings back up.

It takes her only a few moments to climb up the stalactite, swing her way to a neighboring one and slide down its length until she can safely drop on the floor. There is a moment of tense silence, as both sides gauge each other’s reactions. Then Liliana darts away towards the shadows behind an especially large stalagmite.

She’s fast, but Kuroko is faster. He slips through the void and appears right in front of her, just as she was about to dive behind the safety of the stalagmite. She comes to a staggering halt, hand with the stone clutched to her chest.

Shigehiro runs to catch up to them. “Kuroko, don’t hurt her.” Kuroko’s eyes flicker to him and then back to Liliana, unreadable expression back in place.

“Give me the stone,” Kuroko says with a voice bar any emotion.

“No,” Liliana holds her ground.

“Okay,” Shigehiro lifts his hands in placating manner. “No one do anything drastic, okay? There is no need for that. We can talk about this, okay?”

“To what end?” she snaps. “We both want the same but only one can have it.”

Before he can come up with a respond, Kuroko makes to move forward. “Don’t.” Shigehiro shouts without thinking. Kuroko freezes. “Don’t hurt her. That’s not what _he_ would have wanted, is it?”

For a brief moment, Kuroko’s expression is pained. Then he drops the hand he had reached out to grab for the stone. He remains standing in Liliana’s path however.

“Just give us the stone, okay?” Shigehiro pleads. “We need it.”

“So do I.” Liliana says. “What right do you have that trumps mine? I lost my _sister_ , my only family. Is she worth less than your lover?”

Kuroko flinches at her words.

Liliana is crying now. “What right do you have to come here and take away my hope? Everyone’s hope? This is what you were after from the beginning, is it not? What use was there in playing nice with us? You were just going to watch Lahja die and then what? Laugh as you take away her salvation?”

Shigehiro shuts his eyes briefly. There is a flare of pain behind his temple, but it is overshadowed by the guilt he feels.

“You are doing the very same now.” Kuroko says. There is a deep sadness in his eyes that Shigehiro has never seen before.

“Yes,” Liliana breathes in deeply and then lets the air out on a soft sigh. “Because I am selfish.”

Shigehiro opens his mouth, intent to tell her of the nature of the stone’s power, but the words won’t come. How can he tell her and expect her to stop when he knows full well it would never stop Kuroko.

“I just want her back,” she whispers. “Is that so much to ask?”

“Kuroko…” But there are no words he could offer now to convince him. There are too many reasons for both of them, too many reasons why neither should have the stone. It is not Shigehiro’s place to chose.

And then, Kuroko steps out of Liliana’s way. The motion puts his face into shadows, so Shigehiro can’t make out the expression on his face. Something about his posture though, makes his heart ache.

Liliana hesitates and then slowly walks behind the stalagmite. Shigehiro follows. There, draped in white linen, lies the body of her sister, a sweet, rotten smell emanating from her corpse. She lowers the stone.

“Wait,” Shigehiro says. He stares at the ruby-red stone, shocked that he didn’t remember earlier. “It’s not going to work. You need more than one stone to revive someone.”

She looks at him in confused surprise.

“I’m sorry,” Shigehiro feels like crying. “One is not enough. That’s why we’ve been searching all over for them.

“Is that what you believe?” She asks.

“What?”

Liliana looks to where Kuroko still stands clad in shadows. Then she looks back at Shigehiro. “Then you’re a fool.” She rips away the cloth on Lahja’s face and presses the stone against her forehead.

Sesha had once told him she wasn’t sure that there were even enough stones in existence to bring back Akashi Seijuurou. It had made sense then, to think the price for a live was infinitely higher than the price for a cure. It had never occurred to him that just one stone could be enough.

His believes are obliterated by a flash of red lightning hitting the cave floor. And a moment later, Lahja van Groen sucks in a lung full of air - irrefutable proof that he had been wrong.


	19. Tetsuya XI

“You’re insane, you’re completely insane.” Despite his words, Kagami could not quite hide the excited grin on his lips. It was shadowed some with concern, but Kise was and would be an open wound between them for a long time. For now, neither was willing to pick at it.

“That may be so.” Tetsuya allowed. “But I’d rather be insane than dead.”

“As if we would let it come to that.” Aomine said, unlike Kagami, he was unabashedly showing his excitement. “I knew it paid to be friends with you, Tetsu. You have the best ideas.”

“Thank you, Aomine-kun. I also value you for your proclivity to attract possible danger.”

“Uh, thanks?”

“I think that was an insult.” Kagami said with a grin, only to dodge Aomine’s lazy swing aimed at his direction a moment later.

“Shut up.” Aomine grumbled, but there was no real heat behind it.

Tetsuya allowed himself a small smile. It had cost him quite some time and deliberation, if he could afford putting his friends at risk, but in the end he’d realized he had little other choice. This was too big for one person. Both had been eager to help, Aomine had even said he needed some distraction to clear his head from pouring over the disk Tetsuya had given him.

“I am very grateful for your help. But I do not wish to put either of you in danger. This is a personal matter after all. That is what I would like to say, but I am afraid I do not have the luxury.”

“Ah, come on Tetsu. You should know us better than that. There’s no way we would let you go alone.”

“He’s right.” Kagami made a show of seeming disgruntlement at having to agree with Aomine. “Besides, I’d say there’s more at stake than just your love life.”

Tetsuya felt heat rise in his cheeks, but valiantly held Kagami’s eyes. “Thank you.” He said earnestly. “To both of you.”

“Heh, I’d say I have to thank you. When would I ever get the chance to break into a high security facility?” Aomine ruffled a hand through Tetsuya’s hair.

“I can’t believe you ever were a cop.” Kagami said.

“Well, what can I say? I’m just that good.”

Predictably, Kagami rose to the bait and soon the two of them were engrossed in yet another heated argument. Buoyed by the carefree confidence of his friends, Tetsuya thought that maybe, there was a chance after all.

After what he had been through with Akashi, Tetsuya supposed breaking into the Tateyama high security containment facility wasn’t that high up on the list of crazy things he’d done. That had to say something about him, but Tetsuya blithely decided to ignore the implications on his sanity.

Momoi had provided them through Aomine with the intel that Akashi had not returned to his old home, but was in fact held inside the prison-like facility. She couldn’t be there herself, but she wished them luck all the same.

It was night, an hour after midnight - the moon was just a pale sickle on a cloud- and starless sky. Tetsuya wore all black, including a cap to cover up his bright hair. Aomine and Kagami were clad similarly. After long deliberation they had decided against infiltration by day. They could have made it inside the community easily enough, but according to Momoi there was little chance in smuggling Tetsuya inside past scanners that would give alarm at his magic-absorbent nature.

So instead, they were here now, on the bayside of the walled community on a thin, rocky stretch of shore that hugged the side of the magically enhanced wall. Tetsuya felt apprehension, but he couldn’t deny the distinct sense of excitement that clung to the air. This wasn’t just dangerous and forbidden, this was Tetsuya taking his fate into his own hands. This was Tetsuya finally shaking off the passivity with which he had lived most of his life. This was him taking a chance.

He didn’t think about how their group was missing one member, how this would be complete with Kise in their midst - laughing joking and promising Tetsuya the world on a platter of gold.

And maybe this wasn’t just a chance. Maybe this was revenge too.

“So, did Midorima also send you nail polish?” Kagami asked.

Aomine, who was busy staring through a pair of binoculars to scan the waters for the patrol boats circling the peninsula, made a choked sound that turned out to be a suppressed laugh. “He did what?”

“He sent me nail polish?”

“But why?”

Kagami shrugged. “I don’t know. There was just a note attached that read ‘you’ll need it’.”

“Uh, is it your lucky item maybe? He used to be obsessed with those, remember?”

Kagami slapped a hand against his forehead. “Of course. But why would he- wait does he  _ know _ ?”

Aomine returned to his vigil. “Who knows? I think his ability doesn’t really stop developing.”

“I thought he doesn’t read outside of his and Takao-kun’s future.” Tetsuya mused quietly.

Aomine snorted. “He wants you to believe that. Do you think that guy could live with not knowing? He would be worrying himself sick.”

“But am I the only one he sent a lucky item?”

“Naah, he sent me one too.”

“What is it?”

“A blow dryer.”

Kagami spluttered. “Seriously? Did you bring it?”

Aomine patted his trusty belt. “Sure.” The belt was a custom made contraption Aomine had apparently spent years on developing. Everything attached to it shifted phase slightly, allowing for easy transport of the biggest and heaviest objects with little fuss.  As a result, Aomine was prone to carrying all kinds of gear around with him wherever he went. Unfortunately, he had failed to reproduce the method on any other object.

“Heh, didn’t think you were the sentimental type.” Kagami grinned.

“Oi, who’s the one carrying nail polish around? I bet it’s pink.”

“Aomine-kun.” Tetsuya interrupted what was surely to become yet another squabble.

Aomine shot him an apologetic grin, before going back to his observations. A moment later he dropped the bino. “Shit.” Faintly, the sound of a motor could be heard over the rustling of the waves. “Incoming.”

Tetsuya had already sought cover behind a small outcropping of rock, while Kagami kicked the warding stone back in place that camouflaged them from view. It was a rather complex spell that also masked their magical signature. It required a tremendous amount of magical energy and could only be maintained for a few short minutes.

They collectively held their breaths. The boat zoomed past, only betrayed by the faint buzz of the engine. On board, the guards would undoubtedly scan the waters and the wall for any sign of life magical or otherwise. Just to be safe, Tetsuya had pulled on a thermo-isolating coverall that would swallow his body temperature, although he could already feel the insides heat up uncomfortably. He would have to pull it off soon.

A few tense moments passed before the boat disappeared from view. Tetsuya exhaled a breath of relief. He hadn’t been sure if their boat’s camouflage paint would uphold its promise. The paint itself was a homemade recipe from Kagami’s grandfather who had fought in World War 2 and had apparently used it to great effect. But Tetsuya would have to lie to say he trusted a recipe that considered ‘the smile of a beautiful woman’ a vital ingredient.

But it had worked and that was all that mattered.

“Okay, let’s go.” Kagami nodded as though to summon courage for himself. He tested the rope slung around his hips one last time. Aomine, in the meantime, had retrieved a small rectangular device from his belt and attached it to the side of the wall. Tetsuya retreated back towards the waterline.

“You sure this works?” Kagami muttered, eyeing the device critically. To Tetsuya it looked like a mess of cables haphazardly stuck into a cardboard box and then glued together. There was also a glass funnel, whose nozzle disappeared somewhere in the mess of cables. The inside of the funnel was lined with wires that stood out at different lengths. A few of the wires were wrapped with a bulb of tinfoil at their ends, making it seem like a rather odd flower.

Aomine shrugged. “Pretty much. I blew an incineration spell through it earlier, and I got nothing. So I guess it’s good.”

“How does it even work?”

“I have no idea.” Aomine’s grin was the tiniest bit sheepish, but mostly unconcerned. “I just tried messing around with conductive wiring a bit and then I adjusted the connections until it did what I wanted it to do.”

“Why do we trust you again?” Kagami grumbled. Despite his complaints, he shifted into a slight crouch, preparing for his jump.

“I have no idea.” Aomine slapped the wall in test, nodding in approval as no alarm was triggered.

Kagami looked up to measure the distance he had to cover, adjusting his position and stance slightly as he went.

“I was kidding. I know exactly how it works.” Aomine whispered to Tetsuya once he had reached his side. “I just wanted to mess with him.”

Tetsuya gave him a stern look, but Aomine seemed little perturbed by the silent chastising.

Kagami took a deep breath. And then he jumped. The supernatural strength in his legs catapulted him high up into the air. 

Tetsuya followed the arc of Kagami’s ascent with his eyes.

“Uh-oh, he’s gonna crash.” Aomine didn’t sound as worried as he should have. And indeed, Kagami missed the crown of the wall by a good half meter, hitting the wall instead. But he had to have hit some sort of foothold, because Kagami seemed to cling to the wall for a split second before awkwardly lurching upwards and with his upper body over the crown of the wall.

“6 out of 10 and only because I am generous.” Aomine whisper-yelled. Kagami was too far up to be properly seen and the angle at which Tetsuya had to stare upwards made it even harder, but he was sure he saw an outstretched arm with a raised middle finger.

Tetsuya sighed exasperatedly, but felt a smile of fondness tug at his lips all the same.

A moment later, the other end of the rope dropped down next to him. Aomine jogged up to it and tugged once heartily to test its strength. From upwards, a muffled curse was heard. “Bakagami you are supposed to tie it up  _ before _ dropping it down.”

“Shut up, Ahomine.”

Tetsuya cleared his throat. “This is a secret mission. Please at least attempt to take it seriously.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Aomine waved a dismissive hand. “Satsuki said there are no guards on the walls. So there’s no one here to hear us.”

“Still,” Tetsuya insisted.

In the darkness, it was hard to make out Aomine’s face, but he thought he saw him smiling. “It’s gonna be alright Tetsu. We’ll find him, I promise.” There was something in the way he said it, as if there was no doubt at all in his mind that they would succeed – it set Tetsuya’s mind at ease.

Aomine quickly ascended the rope, climbing with enviable agility. Tetsuya had less grace. He simply tied the rope around his hips and tugged once. Moments later he was pulled up.

Once up on the wall, they huddled together to get an overview over their situation. From their position they could overlook a good portion of the Tateyama community, with the large containment facility looming in the distance. They were at the middle point between two watchtowers, far enough away to avoid detection. That was, as long as no one was specifically looking for intruders. But security around the community wasn’t as tight as it was closer to the facility.

“Okay, we’ve got maybe twenty minutes until the next rotation.” Aomine frowned down at a rumpled sheet of paper in his hands. “At least, that’s what Satsuki said.” He shrugged and put it away. “I’m still in favor of just blasting our way in.”

“Momoi-san was quite thorough.” Tetsuya remarked. “I guess that is a good sign?”

An odd expression crossed Aomine’s face at those words He couldn’t quite meet Tetsuya’s eyes. “Ah, yes. Maybe we should be going? We need to cover that ground first.”

They lowered Tetsuya down the other side of the wall. Aomine then slid down the rope with the same effortless grace he had used to scale it. Kagami pulled up the rope and then jumped down. Tetsuya noted he was still moving a bit slower than he used to before he got injured, but mostly he was back to old form. It was good to see him like this. Tetsuya had been worried that the damage was permanent.

The streets were deserted and there was not a single lit window in sight as they made their way through the quiet community. Tetsuya knew there was a curfew for the residents, but it was never really enforced. The quiet was more a result of the late hour.

The containment facility was a large, perfectly quadratic building. The walls were littered with wards and protection spells, there were no windows below three meters and the gate was massive steel and reinforced with runes and wards. It was a true fortress.

Guards patrolled the perimeter and there were more wards on the ground and even familiars to alert of intruders or break out attempts. This was a prison in all but name, intended to detain the most dangerous criminals of their time. The sheer amount and quality of the potential locked up behind these walls, was mind-boggling.

“I never thought it would be this… big.” Kagami was staring up at the giant building. They had taken cover in the shadows between a group of trees. The nearest point to the wall that was still covered - still at least a good fifty meters away from the wall.

There was a moment of silence, each of them hung up in their own minds. To Tetsuya, the building was just huge, imposing, but little else. He knew the stats of course. The details Momoi had managed to unearth - still a feat that left him awed, especially in her state - the spells woven into stone and earth, the countless traps and deadly magic that had rendered any escape attempt so far a failure.

How must it seem to Kagami and Aomine, who for all their bravery and skills, still relied on the magic written into their very souls? This could easily become a trap for them.

“This is the last opportunity to turn back,” he said quietly but with little hope.

“No way in hell am I gonna miss this chance.” Aomine said, transfixed by the prospect of a real challenge. “Satsuki said I’ve grown complacent. The hell did she say that for?”

“Because you’re an idiot, that’s why.” Kagami muttered under his breath.

Aomine opened his mouth to retaliate, but was quickly forestalled by a sharp elbow to his ribs and a hissed ‘quiet’ from Tetsuya. He resolved to quietly glaring at Kagami over Tetsuya’s head.

“I think it’s happening.” Kagami whispered a few moments later. The guards lingering around the two front guard towers - off set slightly from the building’s wall - were getting restless. Moments later, the tower’s doors opened to let out the new rotation.

“Now,” Tetsuya hissed under his breath.

Kagami dashed forward, utilizing the speed his legs granted him. He had covered the distance in a matter of seconds. He jumped the last few meters, hitting the wall with his feet. The moment he made contact, a loud wailing noise erupted all around the area and red circles lit up on the ground. The spells triggered a trap that would trap everyone in a forty meter radius around the point of the breach. There was a window of only about two seconds until the spell was completed.

Kagami did a massive leap from the wall that brought him about half the distance he needed to clear. But his landing was somewhat awkward and he stumbled just the tiniest bit. Tetsuya felt his heart drop to his knees. He was scared to think what would happen if Kagami was captured.

Kagami caught himself and jumped again in an awkward angle and way less graceful than his jumps before, but he threw his entire weight behind it in a desperate effort to clear the trap. He hit the ground hard, skidding the last few meters, dragging earth and grass with him, but he had made it.

“Are you okay?” Tetsuya rushed to help his friend to his feet. He was relieved that Kagami had made it, but they needed to find cover again. The guards were sure to investigate and everything would be in vain if they were discovered.

“Yeah,” Kagami looked shaken but nodded valiantly. “Let’s go.”

They rushed towards the left guard tower in a wide arc, giving the guards who cautiously approached the sprung trap a wide berth. One guard had remained at the tower entrance, but his attention was drawn by the trap as well. Aomine knocked him out with a swift but effective punch to the face. He dropped like a log. Aomine caught him and then carelessly dragged him inside to hide behind the door. “Am I the only one, or was that way too easy?” He commented after they had barred the door.

“You weren’t the one almost caught in that trap.” Kagami grumbled. He looked quite rumpled with streaks of dirt on his face. His palms had suffered some as well, and he was trying to pick the dirt from where his skin had torn off.

“That was one graceful move. I was almost impressed.”

“Shut up.” Kagami growled and stomped away, deeper into the belly of the facility.

Aomine threw a glance at Tetsuya, slightly worried. “Is he okay?” He mouthed. Despite his brash words and generally antagonistic nature, Aomine cared deeply for his friends.

Tetsuya could only shrug in response. Kagami could be a bumbling idiot at times, but normally, he was an absolute master of his ability. That he had fumbled like this was worrying. But there was nothing they could do about that now.

“Kagami-kun, wait.” Tetsuya had a hard time catching up with his friend. But Kagami slowed down upon his call, waiting until he and Aomine had caught up. “We shouldn’t just proceed blindly.” He cautioned. “We don’t know where exactly Akashi is held.”

“Yeah, I figured we’d just have to find an office or something.” Kagami said. “There should be a database of prisoners or something. And where they are kept. And the best way for that is up, isn’t it?” He gestured to a staircase he had been aiming for.

“We should avoid running into guards.”

“Uh, I think it’s too late for that.” Aomine pointed down the hallway they had just come through, and there indeed came the distant sound of running footsteps.

“I thought we would have more time.” Tetsuya felt like cursing.

“Well, we did make quite an entrance. It shouldn’t take long to figure out something’s up with the door suddenly closed.” Kagami moved past Tetsuya and next to Aomine, bracing himself for a fight. They had no real weapons aside from their magic. This was going to be difficult. “We should have disrupted their communication or something.” Kagami muttered.

“Ah, shit.” Aomine slapped a hand against his forehead. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Not that I disagree, but where does the sudden insight come from?”

Aomine ignored Kagami’s jab and pulled something from his belt. “I completely forgot I brought this.” Aomine held a small wooden object in his hand. Runes had been burned into the surface and two metal rods protruded from one side.

“Do I even want to ask?” Kagami groaned. The footsteps were drawing closer.

“Hey, I just finished it this morning. I didn’t think it would be ready for tonight so I forgot about it.”

“Aomine-kun, Kagami-kun, now is not the time.” Tetsuya had a hard time believing they were in fact on a secret, most dangerous mission to free one of the most dangerous ability users alive. But Tetsuya couldn’t deny that Kagami’s and Aomine’s careless approach did well to ease his own heart. He’d be paralyzed with fear otherwise.

“Don’t worry, Tetsu.” Aomine’s grin was eager. “I got it.” A group of guards rushed around the corners, guns at the ready and runes embedded into their uniforms glowing in an ominous light. Part of the reason why any infiltration of the facility was so dangerous and difficult was the sheer amount of magic concentrated at this place. In order to detain people who could kill as easily as with a thought, ordinary means wouldn’t suffice.

They didn’t hesitate. As soon as they spotted the intruders, the guards took aim. But even as they were outnumbering Tetsuya’s group - better armed as well - they had still no idea who they were facing - and the sheer brilliance that Aomine could command.

“You better take cover,” Aomine yelled and that was as much warning as they got, before Aomine activated his device with a flick of his finger. Something heavy hit Tetsuya in the side - Kagami - and he was thrown against the wall with debilitating force. Not a moment too soon.

From the protruding metal ends of Aomine’s device shot bolts of magical energy, ricocheting off the wall and invariably drawn to the runes etched into the guards’ uniforms and weapons. Kagami’s body blocked most of his sight, but Tetsuya could see the runes flaring and then fizzling out as the discharge hit them.

In a matter of seconds, it was over. No guard was left standing.

“Are you all right?” Kagami sounded worried.

“I think so,” Tetsuya tapped against Kagami’s side. “Kagami-kun, you are squishing me.”

“Ah, sorry.” Kagami pushed back and Tetsuya took a breath of relief.

“Thank you,” he said to Kagami. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry. I just got hit by a few strays but nothing bad. Man, that was crazy.” He said to Aomine. “What the hell was that?”

Aomine eyed his device critically. The metal rods were blackened and smoke rose from their ends. “One time use only, I guess.“ He said with a note of regret and dropped it. “It’s a magical lightning rod. Well, kind of. It fires off a small charge to trigger rune spells. It then absorbs the released magical energy - the stronger the better - and fires it back tenfold. I actually wanted to use it to disrupt comm channels, but the discharge was a bit too strong. So I figured I use it for something else.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to just leave it like that? Someone could find it.”

“It’s broken, what’s the point?”

“Yeah, but someone could study it. And figure out how you did it.”

Aomine hesitated, clearly unwilling to give in to Kagami’s reason. Sometimes, Tetsuya had to wonder if his friends were actual adults and not just a pile of children wearing grown up clothes.

“You could try to salvage it?” He offered in an attempt to move the situation along. “That’s better than starting anew from scratch, is it not?”

Predictably, Aomine went for the bait right ahead. He bent to pick up the device and phase shifted it out of sight.

“Come on, let’s go.” Kagami urged and they set off once again.

Kagami’s guess had been pretty much on point. They found the warden’s office after some more run-ins with more guards and copious displays of insane jumping power and definitely not consumer approved alchemistic gadgets. At some point, Aomine and Kagami had decided to make a game out of it to see who could knock out the most enemies - which consequently had led into more and more reckless behavior to try and one up the other.

Tetsuya had put a firm stop to that two floors later, after Kagami, in his effort to beat Aomine, had almost jumped right into one of his attacks. From then on, they had strictly proceeded with caution and as subtly as possible. It had the welcome side effect that their enemies were confused and unable to cope with the sudden change of tactics.

There was indeed a file of inmates in the warden’s computer, but Akashi was not on that list. It had taken a bit of convincing to get the warden to surrender the password. Now he was knocked out on the floor - a point for Aomine and his fast reflexes.

“It makes sense.” Kagami, who was guarding the door, said over his shoulder. “He’s been here for only two days so far. Maybe they didn’t put him into the database yet.” Aomine was busy rifling through the warden’s possessions, knocking stuff over as he went.

“No, that’s not it.” Tetsuya quickly scrolled through another list of names. “He’s not listed as a past inmate either. And not as a past resident, nor present. He’s not listed at all.”

“That’s highly suspicious.” Kagami turned back to watch the corridor outside. For now, they were relatively safe, as their pursuers had lost them. But it was only a matter of time until reinforcements arrived. And then, Aomine’s and Kagami’s tricks wouldn’t be enough to keep them safe. Tetsuya swallowed down the fear that threatened to rise. Akashi had to be here, they just had to find him.

“Shit,” Kagami cursed and slammed the door shut. He hastily turned the lock and then took a few steps back.

“What is it?” Tetsuya looked up from the screen.  _ Not yet _ , he thought frantically.

“There’s a riot going on down there.” Kagami’s face was pale. The corridor leading to and from the warden’s office overlooked the large prison area, with rows and rows of lining the walls on three floors around a central courtyard. From there, the faint noise of fights could be heard. “I think we might have messed with the lockdown spells.”

“How far away are they?”  _ Just a bit more _ . He hadn’t checked all the files yet. He clicked on files at random, opening everyone at once in the hopes to find something of note.

“They’re coming up the stairs. They haven’t breached the fence yet, but it should only be a matter of time. There’s not that many guards left.” Kagami rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I think we should leave as long as we still can. They’re coming for the office.”

“No,” the word was out before he could consciously decide to speak. From the corner of his eye he caught a familiar name on one of the opened spreadsheets. Its title was simply ‘subjects’.

“We can’t leave yet,” he pleaded.

Akashi’s name was listed as subject 47, following a long list of other names. His personal data and measurements, as long with other health data were listed there as well. Akashi’s location was simply listed as ‘B 14’. The entry had been updated recently according to a time stamp next to his name.

“Tetsu.” There was an odd note in Aomine’s voice, “you should come see this.”

Aomine stood next to a previously concealed door, now half open. The book shelf that had served to disguise the door had moved soundlessly out of the way. On the door was printed in bold, red letters the words ‘laboratory B’. Behind it wound a clinical looking corridor with more doors lining the walls on both sides. The doors were labeled as well with the letter B and a number, starting from 1.

A loud bang coming from outside the office startled them. Tetsuya’s elbow hit the keyboard and the file jumped to its end. There, almost as a footnote, was written a note.

‘Subject 47 most promising. Retrieval recommended. Conduct mental conditioning as previously observed in subjects 39 and 50. Conservation of the subject not necessary.’

In the back of his mind he could still hear Akashi’s voice _. _

_ And now Tetsuya wants to know if medical experiments have been conducted on me. _

_ Not in the strict sense of the word, no. _

He should have known that there was more to it than that.


	20. Tetsuya XII

The cell was empty. B14, like all the other rooms lining the corridor was empty. Tetsuya spent a good two minutes just staring through the small, rectangular window, trying to find a trace of Akashi. There was a bed, a chair, a desk. No window. No means of entertainment. No sign of life.

There were name tags on the doors, at least on the rooms that seemed occupied. Akashi’s name stood in neat, black characters on the door to B14. Tetsuya stared at the characters, wanting to trace them and scratch them off at the same time. This was tangible proof that Akashi had been here.

All of the rooms were empty, only a few had seemed as though they were occupied. Slightly rumpled sheets, chairs placed at odd angles, desk pulled away from the wall. But even those small signs of life seemed artificial somehow. As though laid out by someone who had never seen a human being in existence.

The way back was closed off, with the prison riot drawing higher and higher waves. All that was left was forward.

The corridor ended on an enhanced steel door, seals etched into the surface and a rather intimidating lock. All of that was rather pointless, as the door stood slightly open. Behind it was a laboratory. It was a big room; sprawling almost, despite the dense arrangements of furniture and equipment. To the right, there rows of benches perpendicular to the wall, facing each other and mirrored by smaller benches on the other side. In evenly spaced intervals there were sinks installed, there was a group of freezers in the middle and under the benches Tetsuya could see more freezers and fridges and an immeasurable number of cabinets and cupboards. Every available surface was covered with tools and equipment, glove boxes, small machines, colorful boxes and strange instruments.

“Whoa,” Kagami couldn’t stop looking around. “Is this for real?”

Aomine was inspecting one of the many small machines standing on a bench. He pressed a button and a lip popped open. “What the hell is this?” He touched the rotor inside and sent it spinning.

“That is a tabletop centrifuge.” Tetsuya said dully. “Probably contaminated.”

“Eww.” Aomine pulled his hand back and shook it as though to get rid of dust.

“Okay, this might seem a bit dumb to ask, but. What the fuck do they need a research lab for?” Kagami asked.

“What do you think?” Aomine had opened one of the freezers and was now rifling through the contents. He had pulled on a pair of rubber gloves this time. He held a small round Petri dish up for inspection.

“Yeah, but. This is a prison, right?”

“Could be medical.” Tetsuya said. One of the facility’s sponsors was a large medical company after all.

“You mean for treatment?” Kagami asked. The hope in his voice was evident.

Tetsuya picked up a pair of gloves himself. He did not know much about science, except for bits and pieces he picked up from reading one particular book that had been set in a biomedical research facility. He recognized some of the equipment, but could not have said what the overall purpose of this lab was.

“Does it look like these people care about their inmate’s health?” Aomine asked.

“Shit,” Kagami slumped down on one of the many chairs scattered around. “Shit.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Does that mean…?” He gestured vaguely.

Tetsuya wished he had no clue what he meant. But he did. “Most likely.” He couldn’t bring himself to say yes.

“Shit,” Kagami repeated.

There was a loud clanging sound that had them both look up at Aomine. “Sorry,” he muttered and picked up the object he had dropped. It reminded Tetsuya of a gun, except there was a nozzle at its end that pointed down. Aomine hung it back into its holder that was attached to the wall. Underneath, there was a bunch of bottles filled with amber colored liquid. Each bottle was labeled with a piece of colored tape.

“Okay, maybe we should… try and find Akashi?” Kagami asked hesitantly. Aomine reluctantly put down the bottle he had picked up, cap half unscrewed.

The doors on the left all seemed to lead into smaller rooms with additional equipment. One was full of large centrifuges, one had shelves filled with chemicals, one had weird machines Tetsuya could make no sense of. One room was filled with sheets of single-use spells, some Tetsuya knew, others were indecipherable. There was one door, however that was locked. Aomine offered to kick it in, but Tetsuya declined. They could see through the window in the door that it was empty and there were no other doors leading away from it. No use wasting time.

The entire room gave him a bad feeling. The lab seemed as though it was made for many people to work in, but it was completely deserted.  After the crazy rush they had just been through, this seemed all the more disconcerting. Yet, the almost clinical cleanliness of every surface was evident that this lab, if not frequently used, was at least frequently cleaned.

To the right, past the work benches, a glass wall separated what appeared to be an office space. There were desks with computers and shelves full of folders and journals. Tetsuya was sure that in one of these he would find a hint to Akashi’s whereabouts, but they had no time to go through them all. They had closed the hidden door behind them, but it was only a matter of time until someone would come after them. He just didn’t know if it would be guards or inmates.

The door at the other end led to another corridor. The lights were out here, save for the emergency lights. The big lab had had windows towards the outside. Aside from the cell tract and the secret entrance, this seemed like a normal research facility - as far as Tetsuya could tell. And there was of course the fact that this was part of a prison.

Tetsuya was the first to step out on the corridor, but before he could go far, he was rooted in place by the sound of voices. There was a door open, a bit down the corridor, light spilling out and casting the shadow of a person on the floor.

“…don’t believe that,” an unfamiliar voice was saying. He quickly gestured for Aomine and Kagami to be silent. Quietly, they all edged forward enough so that everyone could listen in.

“It is up to you what to believe.” A cool voice replied. Tetsuya’s heart gave a painful beat. It was Akashi.

“Don’t act indifferent now.” The other voice - male, older generation, Tetsuya’s mind supplied unbidden - replied. “You are a schemer Seijuurou. This has your handwriting all over it.”

“You wasted a lot of time, if that is your assessment of me, doctor.” Akashi replied softly.

The other man laughed. “I was never interested in _your_ psyche. But even so I can tell that convolution is much more your style then directness. Or shall I truly believe that you suddenly care?”

“Why else would I be here?” There was a note of bitterness to Akashi’s voice. “As always, your reasoning is flawed. We both know what awaits me here.”

“Ah, but that is the crux of the matter now, is it? I am supposed to believe you chose this willingly just to protect someone? A cheap reason for someone like you. And just as we are talking, this facility happens to be under attack. How _convenient_.”

“I will stay, no matter what. Is that what you want to hear?” Akashi spat out. “You have my wo-“

“Your _word_ means nothing.” The man snapped back. “Nothing you say has any value. You may promise me, swear it on your mother’s grave if you want. It won’t mean anything to _him_ once you flip the switch.”

“So then why am I here?” Akashi hissed. “You knew all this already. It has never stopped you before, _doctor_.”

There was a dull ache in Tetsuya’s hands. He was vaguely aware that he was digging his nails into the palms of his hands with almost brutal force. He had never heard Akashi’s voice this raw, this desperate.

“It was not my choice to bring you back. The very same thing that makes you such an interesting specimen makes you useless as well.” The man scoffed. “I’d rather not spend any more time on you. You’re not worth the answers you _could_ provide. Potential does not pay well in itself. It is time I don’t have to waste. I’d rather put an end to you and be done with it.”

“If only you could.” Akashi said bitterly.

“Don’t test me.” The man said coldly. “I have to answer to my superiors and they - unfortunately - are still convinced of your worth. I’d say they’ll change their minds once they’ve heard about this debacle. So I will take the liberty and sit back and watch the show unfold. One way or another, I’ll be rid of you.”

Tetsuya moved without thinking. Light switched on all around him, sensors triggered by his motion, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t listen to this any longer.

The voices fell quiet.

The room was a sort of office, with two desks on opposite walls. Akashi stood in the center of the room, facing the man that was sitting at one of the desks. He was tall, even while sitting. He had sparse hair covering his head and a carefully trimmed salt and pepper beard. He wore casual clothes, but there was an undeniable aura of authority surrounding him. The screen behind him was dark.

Tetsuya came to a stop in the doorframe. The doctor’s surprise quickly morphed into annoyance, but it was Akashi’s expression that arrested him. He wasn’t exactly surprised, more like resigned. But beneath that, there was a deeply sad expression and… regret.

The doctor sighed heavily. “Let me guess, you randomly found the access point in the warden’s office? I hope you at least had the good graces to not touch anything.”

“You should not have come.” Akashi said softly.

“It’s a bit too late for that now, isn’t it?” The doctor tapped a key on his keyboard and the monitor behind him came to life. He seemed to have been in the middle of transferring data. The completion bar was about halfway full.

“Akashi-kun, please come with us.” Tetsuya was barely able to keep the worry from his voice. As a result, it came out flat and emotionless.

“I can’t.” Akashi’s voice sounded strangely calm. Void. The way, Tetsuya realized, he himself had to sound. The thought almost made him laugh. They both were so good at this, burying their emotions under indifference until it felt like nothing could hurt them. Until it did.

“We’ll go and keep an eye out.” Aomine muttered behind him, dragging Kagami along with him. They took up positions further down the corridor in both directions.

“It is quite commendable that you have come this far.” The doctor had turned away from his screen to look at them. “And truthfully, I do not care how you got in or even if you get out again.” His lips twisted into a dry smile. He had a mole on his chin - it jumped every time he spoke. “But I feel obliged to inform you that your leaving can’t be tolerated. You know too much. Quite clichéd, if you ask me, but that’s how it is.”

“Will you stop us?”

The man laughed. The sound surprised Tetsuya. It was loud and without reservation. But even so, there seemed to be no real mirth in it. “Oh no, I am not going to even try to. I value my life as it is.”

“We do not wish you harm. Although…” Tetsuya clenched and unclenched his fists. “I have one question for you.”

“What did I do to him? Is that it?” He gestured at Akashi with the kind of indifference one would afford a potted plant. Tetsuya gritted his teeth.

Akashi, in the corner of his eyes, seemed to freeze momentarily before he let out a resigned breath of air. “It is of no matter,” he said, but it didn’t seem to expect his words to be heeded..

“It’s really not.” The doctor agreed. “You knowing won’t change anything. But that’s the privilege of the youth I suppose. Always wanting to know, regardless of the costs. And then what are you going to do with all those truths you can’t handle?”

“That is for me to decide.” Tetsuya replied icily.

“Ever heard of patient-doctor confidentiality?”

“Ever heard of human rights?”

The doctor seemed oddly amused at this. He turned his head and glanced at Akashi, almost thoughtful. “Did you know that there is a rather large, yet clandestine, organization - ah, let’s call it an interest group - that considers ability users as non-human? It’s a very sophisticated matter and the consensus is split between subhuman and superhuman. They do have some pull with the council as well, but that is only natural when your members are comprised of the wealthy elite. But of course, as a scientist I do not care about such details. It does come in quite handy though.”

“What are you saying?” Tetsuya could feel his cool slipping, the control he held so firmly in his grasp, became almost impossible to hold on to.

“Don’t make me spell out everything. It’s obvious, is it not? How do you think it is possible for this facility to exist, right under the council’s nose? Because the people in power only care about human rights when it suits them. Or, as it is called these days, human rights only apply to _humans_.”

Tetsuya was moving before the doctor was even finished. He had reached for one of his knives, intent to- he couldn’t even say what he wanted to do. He’d never know though, because suddenly Akashi grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“Kuroko, don’t.” He urged. They were close, almost intimately so, and with that, all the anger drained from Tetsuya. “He’s not worth it.”

“He _hurt_ you.”

Tetsuya had his hand clenched around the handle of his knife, but when Akashi gently pulled on it, he let it go without a fight. He was close enough to see the faint throbbing of Akashi’s pulse at his neck.

“It doesn’t matter,” Akashi murmured.

“It does.” Tetsuya felt the burn in his eyes finally give way to tears. “It matters to me.”

Akashi blinked. He raised his hand, as though to reach for Tetsuya’s face, but hesitated at the last moment. “You should not have come here.” He repeated, voice almost too soft to hear. “Nothing good can come out of this.”

“But I am here,” Tetsuya was openly crying now. Akashi shut his eyes, an expression of pure pain flickering over his face, before he finally settled his hand on Tetsuya’s face.

“You make it hard,” he murmured. “This is where it should end.”

“Ah,” the doctor softly exclaimed. “So this is what you were after.” He looked at Akashi with an odd expression. Despite the interruption, Akashi did not pull his hand back. “If only I could, eh?” The man shook his head in mirthless laughter. “This is precisely the reason why your data is useless. Too many emotions. Here,” He pulled out the data stick from his computer and tossed it at Tetsuya who reflexively caught it. “If you really want to know, It’s on there. Everything. Enough to incriminate quite a lot of people. Be my guest and publish it. Or destroy it.” He reached up towards the shelf atop his desk and retrieved a stack of spells. “It’s all worthless anyway.” He started rifling through the spells.

Just then, a warning sound came from outside and Kagami came rushing through the door. “We got incoming,” he hissed, waving frantically. “We need to-“

He was interrupted by a loud bang and then footfalls. They heard Aomine curse and then there was the loud noise of spells being fired. A moment later, a group of heavily armed guards appeared outside the door, in their midst a man in pristine business attire. He had perfectly styled black hair and a nose that was slightly crooked, as though broken one too many times. It gave his otherwise perfectly respectable appearance a wild edge.

Akashi dropped his hand.

“Perfect timing,” the doctor muttered. He dropped the spells on the desk, save one. He peeled off the protective plastic foil and slapped in on his computer frame.

“Shuiro, what is the meaning of this?” The man in the business suit sounded almost bored as he spoke. He trailed his eyes almost casually over Tetsuya and Kagami, not paying them more attention than he would have a fly. His gaze did hover a moment over Akashi, however.

“Shian, how nice of you to make an appearance.”  Shuiro said with great disinterest. He kicked back his chair, away from the desk, just as the computer started smoking heavily.

“Are you out of your mind?” Even now, Shian didn’t sound overly concerned.

“Maybe. Although, I would say it is the sanest thing I have done today. Your ship is sinking and I am leaving it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. The situation is already under control. And since the culprits are right here, there is no reason for drastic measurements.”

“And as usual, you spectacularly miss the point.”

Tetsuya’s tears had dried, but he was still slightly overwhelmed with everything. A group of guards were busy dragging a kicking and screaming Aomine into the room, while the others had taken up a loose half circle formation around them, weapons - magical and physical at the ready.  But Tetsuya would have bet everything he owned that Shuiro was enjoying the situation quite a lot. “He _loves_ him.”

Shian blinked, the only sign of his surprise. Aomine abruptly stopped his struggles and just gaped, while Kagami seemed mildly surprised. Akashi exhaled and something in his posture changed subtly. It was as though a great burden had lifted from him and he could finally breathe free. His chest brushed against Tetsuya’s arm.

For a moment, Tetsuya thought he felt Akashi’s heartbeat thrumming against his skin. He felt the world shifting around him, tilting on its axis until everything was upside down and then, smoothly, shifting back, only slightly altered to reveal previously hidden angles.

 _Ah_ , Tetsuya thought, _so that’s how it is_.

Somewhere, he had always known this, but just now it had become an irreversible truth. Tetsuya reached for Akashi’s hand and squeezed it, as if to say _I know_ and _I love you too_ and all the other things he could not say right now.

“Okay, I totally did not see that coming.” Aomine muttered. He shook off one of the guards who held him to scratch the back of his head. After a short and mostly quiet scuffle, the guard had managed to snatch the arm back. Aomine continued to be unconcerned.

“Ah.” Shian said as though he had just gotten an epiphany. “I see how that might complicate things.” He finally acknowledged Akashi with a look. “You are very valuable to us. As I have said before, you will be treated well. As well as your kind can expect, that is. I’d rather not kill you. The data we can retrieve from a corpse is limited.”

Tetsuya clenched his fist in response to the casual way Shian was speaking about Akashi’s death. Too late he remembered that he was still holding Akashi’s hand. He forced himself to relax. Akashi squeezed his hand reassuringly, brushing a thumb over his knuckles.

“There is a helicopter waiting to pick us up. I’d rather not be here when the self-destruction mechanism activates. Crucial personnel and test subjects have been evacuated.” He nodded towards Shuiro, “As much as I revile your treatment of our equipment, for once it is not a bad idea. Local authorities will come snooping soon enough, thanks to you.” He shot Tetsuya a glare. “Fortunately, I have prepared for this very scenario and secured backup of all files.”

Shuiro rolled his eyes. “Of course you did. You never trust anyone.” The computer had finally stopped smoking.

“A philosophy that has paid off, for sure. Now, I will make this very simple for you.” He looked back at Akashi. “Come with us and I will allow your friends to walk out of here. They will have to outrun the self destruction and get past the rioting inmates, of course. But the chance is as fair as I can make it. If you resist, I will walk out of here with your corpse. Your friends won’t ever walk again.”

“Did you hear that, Kagami?” Aomine seemed to enjoy this immensely. “He thinks he can take us.”

“Overstated confidence aside, you are outnumbered.” Shian responded.

“Yeah, maybe.” Aomine had managed yet again to shake off his guard and was now picking his ear with his pinky finger. “That didn’t help all the other guys, so.” He inspected his pick with great interest.

“I would like to avoid any bloodshed. It is up to you.” Shian gave Akashi a pointed stare. “We will treat you well, as much as someone of your kind can expect. You know it is more than you deserve. Choose wisely.”

“Pretty sure he’s lying.” Aomine muttered. “Guys in suits always lie.”

“Since when are you the expert?” Kagami asked, over the heads of the guards between them. “You don’t even _own_ a suit.”

“Exactly. That’s why. I’m a trustworthy individual. But hey, we can always sit down for a good old session of girl talk. We could do our nails and braid our hair - we have the equipment.” Aomine patted his belt exaggeratedly.

“You are unbelievable.” Kagami muttered.

Tetsuya was barely listening to his friends’ squabble. Shian was growing more and more impatient, evident only by the continuously thinning line of his mouth. Logically, this was a life or death situation. Emotionally, Tetsuya could not have cared less.

Akashi’s hand had warmed and his grip was gentle. He was still moving his thumb, small circles that were oddly comforting. They were so close, Tetsuya felt like they were slowly melting into each other. And more than that, more than the physical reaction - the _attraction_ \- he felt safe in Akashi’s presence. Like nothing in the world could touch him.

“My presence will put your life in danger.” Akashi said. He was staring at Shian, but he was speaking to Tetsuya. “Not because of who might be after me, but because of who I am - who I can become.”

“A risk we very much know how to contain.” Shian added. He glanced at his watch, a slight frown appearing on his face.

“Would you stop trying to sell us your shit?” Aomine threw in. “It doesn’t matter what he says, honestly. I will come after you no matter what. For all the shit you’ve done here.”

“And we’re going to take him with us.” Kagami added, nodding at Akashi. “No matter what he says, he doesn’t deserve _you_ and whatever crazy shit you have going on.”

“They are right,” Tetsuya said. He shifted so he could face Akashi. “I came here to get you. I won’t be leaving without you.” Tetsuya lifted his free hand and rested it on Akashi’s face, just like Akashi had done only moments before. Finally, Akashi looked at him.

“A shame really.” Shian said with a sigh.

“Tetsuya-“ Akashi’s voice broke off. It wasn’t quite a sob, but close. His eyes were wide open, almost vulnerable.

“Kill them.” Shian said dispassionately, turning to walk out the door. “Make sure to keep their brains intact.”

Tetsuya could see it happen. It started at the edges of Akashi’s left iris. Gold ate its way inwards, swallowing the red until the eye had turned completely yellow. It was all Tetsuya could focus on.

Akashi raised his arm. He didn’t look away from Tetsuya once. There was a faint wet shimmer in his red eyes from unshed tears, but the gold eye was strangely cold in its expression.

One after another, the guards dropped to the ground, soundless save for the impact of their bodies. There was a moment of shocked silence where Shian stared in open horror at Akashi.

“I could never hurt you,” Akashi whispered. Tetsuya knew this voice, knew the way it said I differently. The gold eye flickered. “Tell him that. If it’s you, maybe he will-“ He cut off on a gasp, eyes squeezed shut and face contorted in pain. It lasted only a split second, before the lines on his face smoothed again. When he opened his eyes, both of them were red.

“Kuroko,” he murmured. Akashi swayed on his feet. He reached out a hand towards Tetsuya, but before he could reach, he suddenly collapsed. Tetsuya just barely caught him.

“I told you,” Shuiro said into the silence. He looked sickly pale. “He fucking loves him.”

Shian didn’t get to respond, as Aomine’s fist connected with his nose, breaking it once more.

Getting out of the facility was much easier than getting in. It was only a matter of ‘convincing’ Shian to deactivate the self-destruction mechanism and then following Shuiro out a secret escape exit, after tying up Shian in a chair, blood still pouring from his freshly broken nose.

Tetsuya left the anonymous call to the authorities to Kagami, as he was too concerned with Akashi. He was burning up; skin flushed and sweaty, even through his clothes Tetsuya could feel the heat. Even in the cold night air, Akashi felt like he was on fire.

Shuiro had split with them as soon as they were outside, stating that he didn’t want to be caught by authorities. The riot, if it was still going underway, would soon be quelled by either police arriving or the reinforcements stationed in a barrack at the South tip of the peninsula.

There was a certain sense of relief in knowing that whatever had gone down in Tateyama would finally be dragged to light. Maybe it would be covered up and maybe it would be picked up somewhere else, but this, at least was a small victory.

It was what Tetsuya clung to while sitting in the back of the boat, cradling Akashi’s head in his lap. If only in this, their mission had not been in vain.

“You read the newspaper yet?” Kagami asked over the phone.

“Should I?” Tetsuya replied.

“That depends.” Kagami hesitated. “It’s about Tateyama.”

Tetsuya suppressed a sigh. “I thought it would be. It is about time.” Two days had passed with no news aside from ‘a reported incident at the Tateyama high security containment facility’. “Is it good or bad news?”

“A bit of both I think. They’ve released a report on what’s been going on behind closed doors. They call it a detailed report, but a lot is missing. I went through some comments online, the reactions are mostly mixed. Some think the criminals had it coming. Others are outraged.”

“What about the people responsible?”

There was a short pause. Tetsuya could imagine Kagami shrugging, forgetful of the fact that they were talking through the phone. “They say it is under investigation.” Kagami eventually said. “I doubt much will come of it.”

“No,” Tetsuya stood, “I doubt so as well.” He walked over to the window and looked out. Momoi had wired him some money through Aomine complete with a fake identify to match and they were staying in a hotel on the outskirts of Tokyo to avoid being found. Aida would be able to piece together what had happened. She likely wasn’t happy. “I assume they will produce a scapegoat to take the blame. And then start over somewhere else.”

Kagami hummed. There was a lull in the conversation then. Tetsuya played with the curtain absently. Kagami and Aomine had returned home afterwards. Aida might figure they had helped him, but she couldn’t proof it. And Tetsuya trusted both with his life. He would have liked to thank Momoi personally for her help, but Aomine had said she wasn’t feeling so well. He’d been rather dodgy about the whole topic of her, but Tetsuya didn’t have the time to figure it out.

“How… is he?” Kagami eventually asked.

“No change,” Tetsuya kept his voice neutral. Outside, cars sped past and people lived their lives like every other day. Like nothing had really changed.

“Still not woken up?”

Tetsuya let the curtain fall back into place. “No. At least the fever has gone down. He seems to be fine. He just won’t wake up.”

“What if he doesn’t…?” Kagami trailed off the question.

Tetsuya sucked in a lungful of breath, feeling it catch at the back of his throat. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “I keep him hydrated as best as I can, but there is nothing I can do about food. And even if he does wake up-“ Tetsuya cut off. He shut his eyes briefly, not sure if he should confess his fears. He’d spent too much time worrying about it that it had become all messed up in his head.

“You don’t know who he will be.” Kagami supplied. He had told Kagami and Aomine everything that had happened after they had retrieved Akashi. The details he had left out before, even if that meant revisiting Kise’s death again.

“He’s been like that before. I don’t know the limits of his ability, but it takes something out of him to use it. And it’s not just that. I read through his files.”

“I thought you weren’t going to do that.”

“I was. I wanted to destroy them for good. But I couldn’t. I kept thinking, what if there is something in there that could tell me how to help him. I’ve sent the important parts to Aida, but.” Tetsuya shook his head. “I couldn’t bear not to know.”

There was a beat of silence as Kagami took the information in. “Did it work?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Tetsuya slumped back into the armchair he had occupied before. He had barely slept since their break in to Tateyama. “He apparently has DID.”

“DID?”

“Dual identity disorder. Or some form of it. Basically, his ability is tied to his personality. The Akashi with two red eyes can only use the ability upon direct contact with the object. The other on can do long distance. It’s… I don’t know. They say that by splitting his personality, Akashi was able to enhance his innate ability beyond its limit. It seems that ability use is coupled to the brain. There is a sort of programming in the brain that determines the extent of someone’s power. I am not sure if I understood this part right. I think what they mean is that the brain puts a sort of limit on every ability. Like how you could technically bite through the bones in your fingers, but your brain stops you. This limit is apparently formed in early childhood, but they don’t know how. They’ve been trying to manipulate this limit but nothing has worked.”

Tetsuya took a moment to collect himself. Akashi had been immensely valuable, therefore they had done mostly behavioral studies and some psychological experiments. But there had been many others who hadn’t been that lucky and who had been treated to invasive experiments.

“They wanted to understand what triggered Akashi’s DID. There are other cases of ability users with split personalities, but none showed a change in their limit. But it didn’t work out. They tried to recreate the situation that lead to the emergence of the other Akashi, but it failed. I don’t think Akashi was cooperating much. The doctor, Shuira-san, has added some notes here and there. He didn’t like Akashi as a subject. He called him unpredictable and ‘too unstable to provide viable results’.”

“That’s harsh. But wow, the whole thing is messed up. This is human experimenting we are talking about. And just… what was their goal? More power?”

“Isn’t it always?” Tetsuya returned. “In one way or another that’s always the goal. Regardless of the costs.”

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. I’m sure he will wake up soon.”

Tetsuya wiped at his face angrily. He’d been crying way too much already. “That’s what I keep telling myself. But it gets harder to convince myself. I have no idea what I am even doing. I don’t even know if it’s the right thing anymore.”

“Getting him out there was definitely the right thing.” Kagami said with conviction. “You’ve seen the place. Heck, you’ve even read the files they have. I don’t even want to imagine what was going on there. And I’m sure Akashi will be grateful once he’s woken up.”

“I hope so,” Tetsuya said weakly. “I couldn’t bear if he…” New tears flow and Tetsuya gave up on wiping them away. This was just going to be his life from now on. Emotional and insecure - a total mess.

“Hey,” Kagami said gently, “listen to me. I don’t know the guy. But I have seen the way he looked at you in that office. He would never hate you. I’m not sure about this one, but he essentially agreed to be mind-raped for science just to protect you. Which is fucked up by the way. But I am pretty sure he won’t be mad at you for getting him out. And even if for some fucked up reason he isn’t absolutely grateful, I will tell you this as your friend. You did the right thing. Aomine will tell you the same.”

Tetsuya took a few calming breaths. “Thank you, Kagami-kun.”

“You don’t have to thank me. We are friends.”

“Yes, I am very grateful to have Kagami-kun as my friend.”

Kagami laughed softly, fondly. Tetsuya felt a tiny smile tug at his lips.

“Anyway, I have to go. Aida called us in for a meeting. I think it’ll have something to do with your disappearance. I’m supposed to be on paid leave and all. But yeah. I’ll keep you posted. Tell me if anything changes okay?”

“Yes, thank you, Kagami-kun.”

“Talk to you later.” With that, Kagami hung up.

Tetsuya dropped the phone on the coffee table and sat down heavily on the couch. It was nearing later afternoon and he wasn’t looking forward to yet another sleepless night.

Just then, a small sound alerted him to the doorway to the adjacent bedroom. There, leaning heavily against the doorframe stood Akashi. He seemed worn, exhausted even, but there was a faint smile on his lips.

Tetsuya stood immediately. “Akashi-kun.” He took the first few steps towards him and then slowed to a stop. Suddenly, Tetsuya felt very unsure. So much had happened. He didn’t know what to say.

Akashi pushed himself away from the doorframe. He stumbled more than he walked the last few steps towards Tetsuya. “Kuroko,” he breathed and then fell into his arms. “I’m so glad,” he murmured. He pressed his face into the crook of Tetsuya’s neck, breathing in deeply as though to assure himself that Tetsuya was, in fact, real.

“I was so scared that you had left,” Akashi murmured. Something wet soaked into the fabric of Tetsuya’s shirt.

Tetsuya didn’t know what to say. He reached up and wound his hand into Akashi’s hair, hoping to offer some comfort.

“I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.” Akashi’s voice broke on the last word.

“You didn’t.” Tetsuya’s own voice was unsteady, but he tried for calm anyway. “Neither of you did.” He moved his hands to Akashi’s neck and gently pushed them apart so as to look at his face. “I’m all right.” He murmured. “And so are you.”

Akashi’s face was streaked with tears, eyes both a deep red and edged with dark circles, yet he still tried to smile through it all. “I love you, Kuroko."

 


	21. Shigehiro IX

The inert blood stone looks a lot like a diamond filled with smoke. That is, if one is out to flatter the change that occurred. It would be more accurate to say the stone has dulled to grey. It has become worthless.

Like so many other things, Shigehiro has come to realize, the truth is bitterer than the lie.

“What is your plan?” Sesha asks. She sits in her usual chair, legs propped up on the counter and a potted plant in her lap. She twists the leaves between her fingers, almost to the point of breaking and then relaxes her grip, cradling them almost gently. She does it again and again, like an endless cycle of futility.

Kuroko sits opposite her, hands folded in his lap, staring at the cold cup of tea in front of him. Sesha had prepared it with leaves from the very plant she is now tormenting. Shigehiro’s own cup is already empty.

“I will go after Schwarz,” Kuroko says after what seems an eternity.

There’s a response trapped on Shigehiro’s tongue, but he swallows it down, along with the sharp edges of memory. He drags his fingers along the edges of the inert  _ Nyama _ \- it’s not round, why is it not round but jagged and sharp edged? - following the lines he has learned so intimately now.

“Why now all of a sudden?” Seska asks. She twists a leaf, twists it and reliefs it then twists it again. The leaf has little tears all over from her fingernails, but it clings to the plant with unbroken persistence. “Not that I am objecting.”

“What happened to impartiality?” Kuroko counters.

Sesha huffs. Twists a leaf. The leaf breaks off and she stares at it, hanging sadly between the tips of her fingers. “It’s a bit too late for that, don’t you think?” She says softly. “I have made my decision and I have to live with it. Just like you have to live with the decisions you make.”

Kuroko looks up so fast, it must have given him whiplash. He stares at Sesha with an almost angry expression. She drops the leaf on the counter. Kuroko sighs and suddenly seems old and world-worn. “It is time I bring an end to this,” he says, sounding as weary as he looks. The years seem to pile on his shoulders like invisible stones weighing him down. “This has been going on for too long already.”

Sesha makes a low sound, almost like a laugh. But her expression is sad. The shapes in her eyes shift, draw out into oblong forms, cutting right through her iris. “There is safety in the journey,” she says. “As long as the end has not been decided, there is hope it will be a good one.”

Kuroko stares unblinkingly at his tea cup for a long moment. Then he draws in a breath. Holds it for what seems like forever and then exhales. It comes out as a shudder. When he looks up at Sesha, the mask has cracks. Kuroko’s eyes are faintly wet and he can’t quite control the tremble in his lips. The inert stone falls from Shigehiro’s frozen fingers.

“I miss him,” Kuroko whispers. “I didn’t remember just how much it hurt. Something… something’s changed. I can feel… things.” His fingers clench around the counter’s edge, knuckles standing out white.

Sesha swings her legs down and sits up straight in one fluid motion. She puts the plant down on the counter and then slaps Kuroko squarely across the face. Startled, he blinks up at her. The pain has been wiped clearly off his expression.

“What…?”

Shigehiro picks up the inert stone and closes his fist around it. The sharp edges dig into his palm painfully.

“That was for you killing my favorite ash tree.” She says calmly, before swinging her legs back up on the counter.

“I… broke your tree?” Kuroko is dumbfounded. He carefully rubs his cheek, where the skin is turning red slowly.

“You did. When you first came here. I should slap you again for forgetting.”

“It must have been an important tree.” Kuroko says slowly. “That really hurt.”

“It’s pent-up anger of a god few decades. That tree meant a lot to me. I had to make it count.” Kuroko just nods. “Good. How do you feel?”

Something flickers through Kuroko’s eyes. “I’d say better, but that is up for debate.”

“Does it still hurt?”

Kuroko looks down. “Yes, but not as badly anymore.” Shadows dance over his skin as though in response.

“Hold on to that feeling. Don’t drag it to the surface, just hold on to it. No matter how much it hurts. You’ll need it.” She turns back to her plant, but this time she takes a leaf between her fingers and gently rubs over its surface.

“Thank you,” Kuroko says after a while.

Sesha merely hums.

When he closes his eyes, Shigehiro can still see Lahja’s face in his mind. The way the skin slowly mends together, expelling dead blood and pus as it goes. He can visualize the way flesh shifted underneath skin to compensate for what was lost. It exists all too clearly still in his mind.

The reunion of the sisters is heartwarming, but Shigehiro cannot shake the stale feeling in his heart, even hours after their return.

The knowledge weighs heavily on his mind, but he can’t quite find the words to express what he feels. So he stays silent.

Maybe at some point he will remember what the point of all this was.

Kuroko makes true on his words. He goes to pay Momoi a visit, and for once Shigehiro doesn’t accompany him. He has a feeling Momoi would see right through the turmoil in his heart. And he is not ready to face that yet.

“You’re going to have to face the issue at some point.” Sesha says after what feels like an eternity of silent moping. Shigehiro doesn’t feel up to a verbal response so he merely grunts.

Sesha swings her legs down from their usual perch and then hops to sit on the counter. She’s barefoot, and she has no qualms poking her dirt-brown toes into his arm. He swats her away halfheartedly, but she soundly ignores his efforts.

“He listens to you,” she says after a while.

“I hadn’t noticed,” he says dully.

“Oh but he does. He told me what happened. Good job.” She finally stops her assault.

“We wasted a stone.”

“I would not call it wasted.” Sesha taps the heel of her left foot against the counter. “A life has been restored.”

“You once said you couldn’t be sure if all the stones in existence were enough to resurrect Akashi. So every stone that is used for something else is wasted.” He can’t quite keep the bitterness from his voice.

“And yet, Kuroko surrendered the stone.”

“Did he tell you why?”

“Because you asked him to.”

Shigehiro heaves a bitter laugh. He drags a hand down his face. “Did I? I don’t remember. In either case, there was no reason for him to  _ listen _ . He told me in the beginning, he would not give up the stone. And then he goes ahead and does so anyway. And blames it all on me.” Shigehiro sighs and drops his hand at his side.

“If that is what you think.” Sesha says noncommittally.

“I think that for a man who has done what he does all for one man, he…” Shigehiro trails off. “I don’t know. I always thought-“ He closes his eyes for a moment. “Is that why you hit him?”

“Kuroko exchanged his humanity for the weak hope that there might be a way to bring Akashi back. He sacrificed it for a very slim maybe. That is the extent of Kuroko Tetsuya’s love.” Sesha pulls up  her right leg and hooks it under her left thigh. “I do not presume to understand why he does what he does. But the Kuroko that so deeply fell in love with Akashi that he was willing to sacrifice everything he is, is still somewhere in there.”

Shigehiro thinks it over for a while. He gets what Sesha is saying, but that doesn’t mean he can accept it. For all that it costs him; Kuroko was still willing to sacrifice a piece of his hope. But it’s not as though Shigehiro can complain. This is exactly what he had decided to do all this time ago.

“How did he die?” Shigehiro asks after a long silence. “Akashi, I mean.”

Sesha stops playing with her toes. For a moment she just looks at him as though she’s evaluating her answer. “I don’t know.” She eventually says. “That part is hidden from my view.”

“What could even kill a man like him?” Shigehiro muses. And what had made his life worth so many others?

“I wonder,” Sesha says, her eyes far away and sad.

_ Ask him and he will tell you _ . The words still ring in his mind, but Shigehiro finds he can’t quite follow them yet. Sesha is likely right, she tends to do that, but Shigehiro is not sure if he is ready for the answer.

With some effort, he pulls his thoughts away from that memory. There is time for that later. Momoi has gotten them a possible hit on Schwarz’s next target. He moves around exceptionally fast, therefore Momoi has determined that it is easier to predict his path and intercept him than trailing him.

That way, they can take out Schwarz, gather his stones and additionally collect the stone that he has been targeting as a nice bonus. So much the theory.

Shigehiro thoroughly regrets having come along. He absolutely does not appreciate being stuck under heavy gunfire only to provide a distraction for Kuroko. Gunfire! Who even uses guns when both you and your opponent are master ability users?

Shigehiro carefully edges along the kitchen countertop he has taken cover behind. It’s a low counter, only about half his height, so he has to crouch to stay in its cover. The gunfire has ceased, but as soon as he shows so much as a hair, it’ll pick up again. He tried that once. Not recommendable.

He finally reaches the end of the counter, where only a small gap separates him from the door to the hall and subsequent access to the rest of the house. After a deep breath for courage, he quickly dives forward and into the relative safety of an actual concrete wall. The sound of gunfire follows him all the way up the stairs. This is probably a bad move, but Shigehiro can barely think over the pounding of his heart.

He flees into the upstairs bedroom and hastily barricades the door behind him with a chair. He then makes to move the giant wardrobe to close off the door completely, but has to give up at its sheer size and weight. A quick peek out the window shows him he’s trapped, as there is nothing to cushion his fall, except a measly patch of grass. For lack of better options, he settles in the en suite bathroom, armed with the leg of a foot stool he’d found in a corner.

When no sounds signal the approach of his pursuers, Shigehiro allows his frantic thoughts to come to a rest. Kuroko is supposed to come and pull his ass out of the fire soon. He just doesn’t know how soon that is.

A seemingly eternity passes with still no sign of enemy approach.  _ Of course, _ he thinks bitterly. He’s not going to do much harm from here. He’s trapped and they can come pick him off whenever they want to. It’s a miracle Shigehiro could draw their attention in the first place. It’s not that he is a threat or even remotely important.

Shigehiro tosses his makeshift weapon into a nearby corner. The whole thing had gotten off a tremendously bad start. Kuroko had transported them to a quaint, little town in New South Wales Australia, they had gotten maybe five minutes to admire the scenery, before they had run into one of Schwarz’s henchmen. The guy had staked out the office of the local mining company. He’d seen them and promptly absconded, not without setting off a god damned bomb he had set in the building beforehand.

A freaking bomb.

Kuroko had pulled Shigehiro out of the blast radius at the literal last second and then calmly noted that they had to have figured out that he was somewhat weaker against non-magic weapons as he couldn’t just simply suck an explosion into his void.

_ Why not? _ Shigehiro had asked with no small amount of belligerence.

_ I would blow up from within, _ Kuroko had responded. He’d been a bit agitated, but mostly calm and that had infuriated Shigehiro.

He groans at the memory. He’d been under shock, sure, but that doesn’t excuse the hissy fit he had thrown then. Kuroko had done his best to calm him, but it had been approaching gunfire that had ultimately quelled Shigehiro’s anger.

Fucking gunfire.

Shigehiro grimaces as he peels off the makeshift bandage from his left arm. Only a grazing shot, but it still hurt like hell. Kuroko had done marginally better against gunfire than against a bomb, but he wasn’t exactly fast enough to pick every bullet out of the air, before it reached its mark. As Shigehiro could attest to.

They had gotten the hell out of dodge and hidden in a nearby house - the residents were remarkably absent. The whole town was way too quiet, gunfire discharge notwithstanding, for this kind of firefight - no panicked civilians, no police sirens.

Shigehiro could have sworn he had been transported into a bad action movie.

He’d convinced Kuroko that for now retreating was the best choice of action. He still remembers that moment with gut wrenching clarity. Kuroko had taken his hand and the shadows had lurched up as they always did, but what followed was not the slight disorienting of changing location, but a sudden and violent burst of nausea and the sensation of being flung out into a tornado. For a moment he’d thought his mind would break under the pressure, but just then Kuroko had yanked him out and back into reality.

Something was interfering with Kuroko’s void ability. He could still make his way through the shadows as long as he stayed within the town’s perimeters, but he had difficulties locating his targets. It was mostly try and error and hoping he did not land in the middle of a group of enemies. This was highly worrisome. Schwarz’s men were closing in, mercenaries by the looks of it -  _ professionals _ \- and they desperately needed a plan.

And that was how Shigehiro had ended up as bait and Kuroko went to find Schwarz. The old fashioned way. By foot.

“I bet he’s not even here.” Shigehiro grumbles to himself. He is aware that the line that separates him from panic is very, very slim. For all he knows, someone could be making their way up the stairs right now, rocket launcher or worse in hand and with the intent to blow Shigehiro to pieces. Everything is possible. He is not a priority target of course, but without Kuroko, he would never make it out of here.

This is not how he’d imagined he would die. Trapped in a stranger’s bathroom with no escape and no way of facing his enemies. He is surprised by the force of regret that thought made him feel. All the things he had not done, because he’d thought he’d have the time.

Shigehiro shakes the thoughts from his head. Now is not the time to assess his life’s regrets. There are way too many anyway. He climbs out of the bathtub, careful not to make any sound. There is a skylight in the ceiling where it angles down towards the wall. Shigehiro pulls it open. He can look outside with little difficulties.

Outside lie the deserted street and no sign of any enemies. Shigehiro looks back towards the door. Climbing on the roof is certainly dangerous, but probably still his best chance. He rolls out the cabinet from under the sink and positions it right underneath the window. The rolls can’t be arrested, so Shigehiro has to carefully maintain his balance as he climbs up through the window.

It’s a slippery and entirely too nerve-wracking affair, but somehow Shigehiro manages to climb off the roof via a convenient balcony. Everything without rising enemy alert. Which is mostly due to the fact that the enemy seems to have vacated the area.

He’d be mad at this, but he’s simply too relieved to have gotten out of there alive. Even if it does make him feel somewhat underappreciated. He’s not even worth the time to be taken out.

But this offers up some problematic questions. Where is everyone and why did they leave him holed up in his hideout? Something must have drawn their attention. And that something is likely Kuroko. Now he only needs to figure out where he went.

Shigehiro takes a moment to run through his options. Which are fairly straightforward. He can go left or right along the road, or he can make his way directly through the houses’ backyards and see where that gets him. Since there really isn’t that much for it, Shigehiro simply decides to go left. What is the worst that could happen?

In retrospect, going left probably wasn’t the best of ideas.

Shigehiro remembers his newfound knowledge about how human teeth are allegedly able to bite through bone, but are essentially hindered by the brain. He really hopes that’s true, because if he bites any harder, he’ll sever his finger.

He managed to stumble right into where Schwarz had set up his tactical HQ on the front yard of one of the more posh houses of the area. And now he is hiding behind some conveniently placed boxes and hoping that he wouldn’t accidentally give away his presence by making one of the many fearful sounds that currently threaten to escape his throat. His field of vision is limited and Shigehiro is not about to change that anytime soon.

Schwarz is talking with the woman named Carmine. Both of them framed by the crack between too stacked crates. Shigehiro can’t say if there are any more people with them - he dearly hopes there are not.

“He’s surprisingly stubborn,” Carmine comments while idly inspecting her nails.

“Not really,” Schwarz returns. “This is well within expectations.”

Carmine makes a low sound in her throat, something noncommittal that yet manages to encompass all the contempt she must be feeling.

Schwarz is unimpressed. He pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his breast pocket and lights one with a snap of his fingers. “I did tell you, he would play it safe.”

“That you did,” Carmine says drily. “Still doesn’t mean I like it. This is ridiculous and you know it. One could think you were obsessed.” She clicks her tongue. “How much did you spend on this?”

Schwarz takes a deep drag from his cigarette. “As much as I needed to. Now stop with the antagonizing, it doesn’t suit you.”

Carmine smirks, revealing a perfect set of straight, white teeth. “I am bored, you know.” She flicks her wrist in an idle motion. “I’m getting antsy.”

“You get to kill something soon, don’t worry.” Schwarz flicks ash from the tip of his cigarette with a careless motion. “We’ve got plenty of mercs to go around.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Carmine says with a note of ice to her voice.

“Sir!” A third voice speaks up suddenly, startling Shigehiro badly.

“Yes?” Schwarz’s smile could be called pleasant, but his eyes are startlingly cold.

“We have confirmed rabbit’s trajectory. He’s approaching as predicted. I have relayed orders to my men to surround the perimeter.”

“Very good, captain.” Schwarz is already turning back towards Carmine.

“I’ll await your orders, sir.”

“That won’t be- ah,” Schwarz’s smile shifts into a smirk, “what excellent timing.”

The mercenary suddenly comes into view, gun sighted to a target Shigehiro can’t see. He can guess who it is all the same.

“Don’t move,” the merc barks. He’s wearing some sort of combat armor, complete with protective runes and spells engraved in the surface. “Rabbit spotted at LZ, all forces immediately return to base.” He had shifted his head slightly and Shigehiro guesses that he was speaking into a microphone.

“You should leave.” Shigehiro knows that voice. He moves very carefully, trying to get a different angle on his visual. A moment later, Kuroko walks into his field of vision. He looks… tired. There are traces of dirt and even blood on his clothes. He holds one arm awkwardly at his side, as if injured. His hair is streaked with dirt as well.

Had all this been going on while he was sneaking around the town? Shigehiro can’t quite believe it. He’d spent quite a long time combing through the houses in order to find… anything and he hadn’t run into one merc the whole time. They all must have been after Kuroko.

“You’re surrounded. Surrender or we will open fire.” The merc leader orders in a hard voice. He’s trained his gun on Kuroko, finger on the trigger.  By chance, Shigehiro catches a movement from behind a window in one of the houses further away. Another mercenary, taking Kuroko into his sights. The situation looks more and more dire.

“That would be all, captain.” Schwarz says in what could almost be called a conversational tone.

The captain doesn’t break stance. “Sir, this is a very dangerous individual-“

“Your help has been most appreciated.”

There is no warning, no sign, no  _ reason _ , just Schwarz smiling that enigmatic smile of his and then, the next moment, the merc captain falls to the ground silently. The silhouette behind the window falls a moment later.

“I learned a trick or two since our last meeting,” Schwarz says almost casually. Carmine bends down to pick up the mercenary’s gun.

“Impressive,” Kuroko says without any inflection. “Shall I challenge you to a duel.” He doesn’t even bother to make it sound like a question. There is something dark about Kuroko’s form, like a mantle of shadows clinging to him. The void has never before looked like that – transparent like gray fog.

“I know how you operate.” Schwarz says simply. “I exhausted your reserves and now I have removed every form of sustenance from your reach. A duel would be sadly one-sided.”

Kuroko remains silent. His arms hang by his side, hands relaxed, safe for the somewhat awkward angle of the left one – there is not a sign of tension in him. If it weren’t for the wispy coat of shadows, Shigehiro would have thought Kuroko was underestimating the situation. As it is, he might very well be preparing for a kill.

“Where is Ogiwara-kun?” The question is asked almost too softly, so that for a moment Shigehiro wonders if he’s really heard it.

Schwarz’s lips curl into a nasty grin, baring his teeth as though that alone would be enough to intimidate his opponent. Shigehiro shivers. It’s an odd, juxtaposed sensation when he’s spent what felt like hours under the relentless Australian sun. The temperature, he suddenly realizes, has dropped significantly. And the source for that is most definitely not Schwarz.

“Take an educated guess.” Schwarz says. The glint in his eyes seems to have taken on a maddening tone. He looks almost crazed and Shigehiro realizes that Schwarz  _ wants _ this, not for tactical reasons but for personal pleasure.  Focusing on Schwarz proves to be a tactical error. He’s completely missed the transformation that had happened with Kuroko.

It’s Carmine who notices first. Her expression devolves into shocked surprise and she retreats a few hasty steps backwards. Schwarz, indifferent to his partner’s reaction, raises his arm. The gray shadow-fog clinging to Kuroko suddenly surges forward, gaining solidity along the way, until a giant, blackish gray arm makes a grab for Schwarz. He’s engulfed within moments.

“Do not take me lightly.” Kuroko says, but his voice is enhanced multifold, by the power he is wielding. Inky black is creeping up his face from where the void is tethered to his skin. His eyes have turned black completely. Kuroko’s expression is one of pure rage.

Shigehiro is frozen in place, heart beating wildly with horror. This is unlike anything he has seen before, an entirely unknown quantity to Kuroko’s already fearsome power.

Schwarz is screaming, the sound muffled and choppy as the void swirls over and around him. Red mixes into the blackness of void and the coppery tang of blood clogs the air. Shigehiro feels bile rise.

_ You killed him _ , Kuroko’s voice seems to sound directly in Shigehiro’s head. Its force akin to a church bell rung right next to his ear. Shigehiro staggers against the piled up crates, collapsing the whole lot into a messy pile. Shigehiro flails to press a hand to his mouth, the urge to retch almost overpowering. He looks up and his eyes meet Kuroko’s and for a short, precarious moment he feels the world shift into a vacuum.

Kuroko’s lips move, no sound comes out and the pressure is back and Shigehiro hears his ears pop, before silence swallows the world. He blinks. The void is gone, leaving behind a bloody mess that barely resembles a human. Carmine screams, but the high-pitched wail is merely a dull squeak to his muffled ears.

The world turns black at the edges of his vision. He thinks he’s about to faint, but there is no dizziness, no vertigo, just black creeping into his vision. Only Kuroko’s face remains clear in the encroaching black. The void is creeping in on him. The realization stirs a tired note of fear.

He thinks he hears Kuroko’s voice in his head again.  _ I’m sorry _ , it says.

For what? The words won’t form on his lips. He can’t move. The void is surprisingly warm. Kuroko’s face is swallowed by the black and Shigehiro feels like he’s floating in nothing. Nothing.

_ Nothing. _

And then,

He finds himself face to face with Akashi Seijuurou.


	22. Tetsuya XIII

_ I cracked it _ , the words ring hollowly in Tetsuya’s mind. He can’t forget the sheer exhaustion and… resignation that had clung to Aomine’s voice when he had said it.  _ It’s not good news _ , he had added, as if his tone hadn’t already given that away.

As if Tetsuya hadn’t already known that anything encrypted on that disc was going to be bad news.

“You look tired.”

Tetsuya looked up at where Akashi was huddled on the couch with a thick blanket wrapped around him. Hotel room. Somewhere in Tokyo’s suburbs. Tetsuya hadn’t bothered to remember the name of either. He had paid in cash and probably been forgotten by the clerk less than a minute after.

“I am.” The words surprise him. He hadn’t intended to share his exhaustion. Akashi had enough on his plate already. But he couldn’t… pretend any longer. He just didn’t have it in him anymore.

“Come here,” Akashi lifted one corner of the blanket and Tetsuya crawled into the warm comfort of his presence without so much as a fight. “Tell me about it.” He murmured, breath a warm ghost on Tetsuya’s chilled skin.

Tetsuya shook his head, mutely. He couldn’t. Not yet.

Akashi made a soft sound in his throat.

“Tell me it’s going to be okay,” Tetsuya whispered. “Even if it is a lie. Tell me.”

“It doesn’t have to be a lie.” Akashi murmured in response.

Tetsuya shut his eyes briefly. Maybe this was why religion had fallen obsolete. To resist temptation was not something ever taught in script. “Don’t use your power for me,” he said into the crook of Akashi’s neck. He felt like crying.

Akashi shifted until he had both arms wrapped around Tetsuya. “That’s not what I meant. I’m burned out for now. Maybe forever.” He huffed what could have been a laugh in another life. “Have I ever told you how I ended up in Tateyama? How I ended up with  _ him _ ?”

“You know you never did.”

Akashi flicked his ear, softly, as not to inflict pain. “Need I remind you that my social skills have suffered for the last years? You should appreciate that I managed such a smooth conversation starter.”

Tetsuya exhaled. The pressure on his chest eased some. He could do this. He could pretend that they were normal, just for a while. Before reality came crashing back down. “Tell me,” he said.

“It is not a terribly long story. Or a complex story. You could say it is just a long chain of unlucky circumstances. Or maybe fate, if you want to.” Akashi paused for a long while. Tetsuya shifted to lay his head on Akashi’s shoulder. He wondered if the story of his life would be considered simple or complex.

“I was a prodigy. And I was born into an incredibly wealthy family, to an ambitious father. I was everything he could have dreamed of. I had  _ potential.  _ I could have granted him the dynasty he had always wanted. But I didn’t. Instead, I crumbled under pressure, developed a split in personality and became unstable.”

Akashi threaded his fingers into Tetsuya’s hair, absently playing with the strands. “Well, my father has always been an opportunist. He made the best of it. I had extraordinary abilities, and no qualms to use them. Ah, how his  _ Empire _ thrived. No one could stand in his way. It’s quite amusing if you think about it. He hatched elaborate plans to take over rival businesses, to silence his critics, his foes. He never quite grasped the true essence of my power. I… he-  _ we _ could have made him leader of Japan’s economy with a thought, ruler of the world with another.” Akashi’s hands stilled, but he left them resting in Tetsuya’s hair.

“I knew, of course. But I didn’t care to tell him.”

“Why didn’t you make yourself ruler of the world?” 

“To what end? I had the power in my hands already. Everything was to be mine. The difference at that point was… semantics. Or so I thought to myself. But while magic has unlimited potential, humans have not. I was limited. I got headaches, nose bleeding. Sight in my left eye decreased. Sometimes I would go blind on that eye for hours, even days. I suppose the me that is here right now, the original if you will, had safeties set in place. I can only influence things by touch, but I never suffered repercussions. Exhaustion maybe, if I exerted myself too much. The other me didn’t suffer these restrictions. But he shared the body of me who did and who could not brace the power that was required.”

“Is he here right now? Can he hear us?”

“He can. But he’s quieted down. We have been at odds for the longest of times. But now we have found… common ground, if you will.”

“Common ground?”

“You.”

Tetsuya’s heart seemed to skip a beat, only to pick up the pace significantly. He felt himself blushing and was glad Akashi could not see him. “You haven’t told me how you ended up in Tateyama.” He said to mask his embarrassment.

Akashi returned to petting Tetsuya’s hair. “For a while everything went well. As well, as one could expect I supposed. But as I said, this body of mine was never meant to withhold the full power of my ability. My other self was fully absorbed into the idea of victory – dominance even. He had the power to rule it all, of course everything in existence had to defer to him. But not everyone did. And with the strain he had put on our body, he could no longer enforce his absolute rule.

“It happened at school, of all places. I… we were student council president and captain of the basketball club. National champions, every year of course. It was more a dictatorship, really. And one day a group of students decided they no longer wanted to listen, he failed to put them in their place and the veneer finally cracked. He couldn’t reach his power when he needed it so he threw the towel and fled to leave me to pick up the pieces.”

There was a long beat of silence. Akashi sifting through the memories that must have stirred. “But I was… ill-adjusted. The world seemed to have changed while I was only a bystander. This body no longer fitted to me like I was used to. I was a stranger in my own skin. All these ideals my other self had clung on to, they meant nothing to me. But I had nothing left of my own. No ideals, no dreams, no direction. I was useless to my father. So in response to that and the waves my other self had made with his unruly behavior, he admitted me to Tateyama. He wanted me out of the way. I doubt he spent much time investigating into the facility’s history or reputation. It was far away, that was enough.”

“They experimented on you.”

“You might say so. I was valuable, even to them. My powers of course are extraordinaire, even shackled as they are in my hands. But what they were truly after was  _ him _ . They wanted to draw him out, put him under their control.”

“Why did you let them?” The question was out before he could stop himself.

“I didn’t care at that time. I simply didn’t. I had no purpose, no friends, nothing to live for. The basis of my existence had shattered when my father discarded me. If this would lead to an end, I did not mind what kind it would be. I would have gladly given the reins back to my other self, but he was asleep, or maybe he simply hid from me. I suppose, in our own ways, we are both cowards.”

“How about now? Do you still feel like that?”

“No. Over time, I regained a sense of self. My powers recovered as well. I suppose I could have walked out there at any moment, but there was nothing outside that I wanted. Not even freedom. The researchers knew it as well. They relocated me to one of the houses in the community. Experiments had not born any fruits. There was no need to continue. Maybe they thought the change of scenery would do me good. For a while I tried to find something I wanted to do. I read books about any topic I could think of. But nothing interested me. Nothing lasted. Until you walked through my door.”

“And everything changed.” Tetsuya murmured tiredly.

“Everything changed.” Akashi mirrored him. He slid his hand down to Tetsuya’s cheek, gently tilting his face upwards. For a moment he just gazed at Tetsuya. Tetsuya wondered how he could have missed the sheer amount of love and adoration in Akashi’s eyes. “I love you,” Akashi murmured and then kissed him. His hand slipped from Tetsuya’s face dropping somewhere out of sight,

Tetsuya shuddered and all of a sudden he couldn’t stand it any longer. He wanted to, no, he  _ needed _ to touch Akashi, to press their bodies together as tightly as they would fit. He needed to feel him, all of him.

“There was a lesson in there,” Akashi murmured, “I lost it.”

“Who cares about lessons.” Tetsuya’s voice was breathless and the tiniest bit needy. They had talked about something important, but he didn’t care. The world could go to hell right then and Tetsuya would still not care.

“Is this what you want?” Akashi asked, hand hovering a breath away from touch.

Tetsuya couldn’t help the breathless laugh that escaped. “Want is a bit of an understatement.”

Akashi smiled. He rubbed his thumb over Tetsuya’s lips, traced the lingering kiss he had placer there moments before. “I never wanted anything,” he murmured. “There was never need for want. I could simply have what I desired. This is… unprecedented.”

“Maybe that’s the lesson.”

“Maybe.”

Tetsuya took Akashi’s hand and turned his head to place a kiss at his wrist. He could feel – or maybe he just imagined it – the soft flutter of Akashi’s heartbeat. Akashi sucked in air through his teeth and closed his eyes. Tetsuya sucked on the skin. Akashi made a low noise at the back of his throat.

Tetsuya had been tired before. But that tiredness was all gone now.

Akashi sank backwards into the couch and Tetsuya followed, straddling his legs. He trailed his hands down Akashi’s chest, felt the warmth of his skin through the fabric of his shirt. Akashi rested his hands on Tetsuya’s hips, thumbs rubbing circles, soft and steady.

“What about you?” Tetsuya asked. His hands were centimeters away from the edge of Akashi’s shirt. Further down and he would feel skin.

Akashi kept his eyes closed, but raised a hand. He held it out, wrist bared. Tetsuya could trace the outlines of veins under the skin. “It’s yours,” Akashi said softly. “All of it.”

“Don’t offer me your life,” Tetsuya said. His hands were trembling, but he could not tell why. “I don’t want it.”

Akashi’s eyes flew open; they were wide and bright and scared.

“I don’t want your life,” Tetsuya repeated. He took Akashi’s hand in his, wrapped it up in his palms, felt the cold in the touch that had burned hot only moments ago. “I want to be part of it, just as you are part of mine. For however long you’ll have me. Don’t give yourself up for me.”

Akashi blinked. His eyes seemed wet for a moment, but then he smiled. “Then that is what we’ll do.”

It sounded like a promise. And in the kiss that followed Tetsuya laid all his hopes and dedication to make it one that lasted.

They broke the kiss eventually, but not quite broke apart yet. Tetsuya stared into Akashi’s eyes and wondered if this maybe would be enough. For the both of them. The afternoon sun shone in through cracks in the curtains, ghosting beams of pale light over Akashi. It seemed to Tetsuya - again and how often had he thought something similar unwittingly? - that Akashi was crowned with a halo of light. 

Akashi smiled.

It stole the breath from his lungs.

“I love you.” He leaned in and this time the kiss was deeper and filled with a desire that was echoed in Tetsuya’s own chest. Akashi wound his fingers into Tetsuya’s hair and then there were no more thoughts in Tetsuya’s head. All that there was was the feel of Akashi’s lips on his, the heat of his body under his.

Tetsuya brought his own hands to cup Akashi’s face. He let his fingers drift over skin, settling them along Akashi’s jaw until he could feel the ghost of a heartbeat flutter against his fingertips. It was wild and the thought thrilled him.

They kissed like that for a long time, letting the heat and desire built up slowly until it became an unbearable thrumming under Tetsuya’s skin. He dragged his hands downwards over Akashi’s neck and then chest, eager to touch and explore and  _ feel. _

Akashi mirrored him just as eagerly and Tetsuya could not help the sound that escaped him when Akashi’s fingers slid under his shirt, nor the moan when Akashi tweaked his nipples. He was painfully hard and so was Akashi and Tetsuya was torn between the sheer desire for  _ more  _ and the deep-seated wish for  _ slow _ .

Akashi’s fingers gently squeezed and the need for slow was succumbed to the desire for more. Tetsuya grabbed at Akashi’s shirt and pulled, causing a quiet laugh and then it was gone, ripped off and discarded and Tetsuya suddenly felt the world shift into its rightful place. Akashi looked up at him with flushed cheeks, bared chest and he was smiling that smile of his again. 

Tetsuya kissed him.

He lost his own shirt along the way and then they were pressed close together, chest to chest and it was good and perfect but still not nearly enough.

Tetsuya made a needy sound and then decided that he was too impatient to wait for Akashi. He leaned back slightly, inviting space between them. He looked at Akashi. “Can I touch you?” He looked down to where Akashi’s pants strained above his erection and he could see the faint quiver that rippled through his abdominal muscles.

“Yes,” Akashi breathed and then leaned back against the sofa, hands resting lightly on Tetsuya’s hips.

_ Touch me _ , he wanted to say but didn’t. Tetsuya slid off Akashi and knelt on the ground between his legs. He was hard and still thrumming with incessant need, but. 

His hand was steady when he reached for the fly of Akashi’s pants. Part of him could not believe that he was doing this. That they finally-

“Tetsuya,” Akashi breathed. His eyes were open wide and slightly glassy and impossibly red. Tetsuya closed his hand around him and he watched as Akashi’s eyelids fluttered against the urge to close. He leaned in and kissed the head, still staring upwards.

Akashi made a low sound, sweet and needy and overwhelmed. His eyes fluttered shut only to open again immediately.

And then his mouth closed in on Akashi’s erection and the self control he always seemed to exert crumbled. Akashi gasped and screwed his eyes shut. His hands had fallen to his sides and where fisting into the fabric of the sofa.

Tetsuya wished he could engrave the image of Akashi coming undone onto his mind. Instead he settled on drawing out even more sounds. He fisted a hand around the base of Akashi’s cock and slid down with his mouth as deep as he could. The slightly bitter tang of precum had given way to the smooth taste of Akashi’s skin. Still, there was the faintest trace of musk tickling Tetsuya’s nose. He found he quite liked it. 

It did not take long until Akashi’s hand found his hair and there was a slight twist and a breathless, urgent “Tetsuya,” but he did not stop and then the bitter taste of semen flooded his tongue. Tetsuya closed his lips around Akashi’s shaft and sucked softly.

Akashi let out a choked gasp, arching of his seat and almost folding right over Tetsuya at work between his legs.

Tetsuya carefully pulled back, mindful to contain any possible spill, but remained kneeling with his head pillowed against Akashi’s thigh. Above him, Akashi’s chest was heaving against the back of his head, fingers loosely twisted in Tetsuya’s hair. It was almost like a hug and Tetsuya liked the feeling of safe enclosement it gave him.

Eventually, Akashi pulled back, tracing one hand down Tetsuya’s cheek and to his jaw. Tetsuya looked up. Akashi stared at him with something like awe in his eyes. His thumb was idly brushing over Tetsuya’s lower lip, still slick with saliva.

“What have I ever done to deserve you?” Akashi asked with the same awe coloring his voice.

Tetsuya licked his lips. “Because I give amazing blow jobs?”

It startled a laugh out of Akashi. “No,” he stroked a finger over Tetsuya’s cheek, “because you are everything that is good in this world.” 

Later, after they had joined their bodies, after they had sated their desires in each other, Tetsuya let go of the last of his fears. “I love you,” he said to the sleeping form of his lover. They would survive this. He vowed to himself that he would make sure of that.

Tetsuya hoped that this oath would survive the light of day.

Tetsuya cooked them breakfast in the morning, a real treat complete with grilled fish, white rice and miso soup. He took the good leaves to brew their tea. And while they ate, Tetsuya laid out his plan.

The disk had contained a recipe – a rather dated version according to Aomine, but he could infer enough – for a spell of outrageous proportions.

“It tears a rift into the dimensional fabric,” Tetsuya explained. “A real rift, not just a pocket of finite space.”

“A rift to where?” Akashi asked.

“We don’t know. If there are multiple universes, then I guess to another universe. Another dimension, if there are any.”

Akashi seemed wary at this, but did not speak.

“You’ve seen it, haven’t you? What lies on the other side? Takao-kun seems to have at least caught glimpses of it. There has to be something outside of our plane.”

“Dimensions are, if you will, just out of frame shifts of existence. It is the same space, but everything is moved just slightly out of frame. It is possible to walk through another person that exists in the same space but be completely unaware of it. By the nature of it, it is impossible to tear holes into dimensional fabric.”

“But something has to be there. Why would they want to rip holes into it otherwise?”

“They could be wrong,” Akashi offered.

“They were willing to sacrifice a lot of lives for this. I can’t count on them being wrong.” Tetsuya grimaced. “Even if they are, they will attempt it. I have to prevent that.”

“What does it take to use the device?”

Tetsuya’s voice was grim when he responded, “What do you think?”

Why did it always come down to blood and life and  _ power _ ?


	23. Shigehiro X

Shigehiro has only heard stories of Akashi, has never seen him, but he knows instantly this is him. There is no one else who would be here at the heart of Kuroko’s void for this is where they must be. That or Shigehiro is dead, but he supposes he can rule that out simply for the fact that his ears still hurt from… whatever that was. Death is not supposed to hurt right? 

Akashi’s corpse is laid out on a flat, swirling mass of black, a kind of morbid altar. At his feet lies the sack Shigehiro knows contains the  _ Nyama _ . He’s smaller than Shigehiro had expected, almost frail surrounded by the giant black mass of Kuroko’s void. His skin is pale, contrasted by the deep, red hue of his hair.

It feels almost like a sacrilege to approach him. He’d suspected something like this. Kuroko had to have the body preserved somehow, or else resurrection would be a bit difficult. But it had always just been a thought hovering at the periphery of his mind.

“Nice to meet you. I am Ogiwara Shigehiro. I’ve heard much about you.” He says to the corpse. Akashi does not respond. There are no outside wounds on him, no blood, no sign of struggle or injury.  Did he die of sickness? Could someone like Akashi even die of something like disease?

“You have no idea, do you?” Shigehiro asks drily. “He would send the world to hell for you.”

Suddenly, Shigehiro feels exhausted. But there is nothing to sit here. He looks down at his feet. If there is a floor underneath his feet, he cannot see it. Akashi’s altar also isn’t anchored on anything but black.

“How does it feel to be loved like that?” He asks. Again, there is no reply.

Shigehiro sits down, leaning his back against the side of the altar. There is nothing there, but he feels a wall all the same. There is nothing there. There is everything he wants there to be. But his mind is empty, save for questions he has no answers for and the dead do not seem intent on rising to answer them for him.

He wonders if Kuroko intents him to die here. He has no idea how time passes here in relation to outside. What if hours outside take years inside? He could starve and rot and fall to dust in the space of minutes.

But Akashi hasn’t changed at all. He could just as well be asleep. Maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe time in here is frozen, while outside centuries pass. Maybe Akashi looks like this because he has been dead for only moments.

Shigehiro closes his eyes. He realizes that he can’t really say if it’s cold or warm. He doesn’t feel anything, he’s not freezing but he couldn’t say he’s warm either. It’s the same with the air he’s breathing. It has no quality to it, no scent, no taste. Nothing here has substance, except Akashi’s altar.

Nothing changes for a long time. At least it seems to Shigehiro that a long time has passed. It could have been only seconds, there is no way of knowing. The silence around him seems to grow and slowly swallow him. He tries to listen to his breathing but the sounds are fleeting and muffled by the rush of blood in his ears.

And then, without any sign or warning, he’s out. One moment, he stares at never ending black, the next he’s facing Kuroko. Shigehiro blinks. It’s disorienting – painful – and he has to close his eyes against the glaring brightness of  _ everything _ . He had not felt blind while inside, but Shigehiro realizes he must have stared at a world without light.

“Are you all right?” Kuroko’s voice is muffled, as though he’s speaking through a wad of cotton. Shigehiro shakes his head, trying to disperse the haze in his brain. Something cool touches his forehead and some of it clears.

“What was that?” Shigehiro croaks, voice hoarse and scraping and feeling as though he hasn’t spoken in years.

“I stored you in my void,” Kuroko explains.

Shigehiro opens his eyes a fraction, light still painfully bright but it’s getting better. “Stored. Me.” He repeats. His voice is coming smoother now, but he’s craving water now, something to drink. And food. He’s starving, he realizes with sudden force. Just how long had he been inside?

“Yes, it was the only way.”

“What did you do? What happened? And why was it the only way?”

“It’s better if you not know.”

Shigehiro scoffs. “ _ Please _ . You stuck me in with your cryo-frozen lover,” Kuroko flinches but Shigehiro keeps going, “and you expect me to just accept your cryptic bullshit? After everything? I have a right to know and I deserve to know. Oh, and I  _ want _ to know. So get talking.” Shigehiro crosses his arms in front of his chest.

Kuroko almost looks dumbstruck. Shigehiro raises both eyebrows. Kuroko averts his eyes. “I killed them.”

Shigehiro loses a breath. “I should be more surprised by this.” Shigehiro says flatly. “I should be  _ angry _ at this. But honestly, I can’t even be disappointed at this.”

“Would you have me spare them?” Ice seems to glaze over Kuroko’s voice. “It was what we came there to do. A fact you were very well aware of.”

Shigehiro clenches and unclenches his fists. Kuroko’s right and that’s the worst of it. He wants to hit him, shake him, do something. But he can’t. Because Kuroko’s right and Shigehiro has lost his right to be angry a long time ago.

“Was it worth it?” He feels numb. Tired. In front of his mind’s eye he can still see Akashi’s lifeless face. “Is it worth it? All of this? All the deaths and the sacrifices? Just for  _ him? _ ” For a moment Shigehiro thinks Kuroko’s going to attack him. There’s such a vicious expression on his face. But then it just… disappears.

“You don’t understand.” Kuroko says, hollow. He sounds so hollow. Just like Shigehiro feels inside.

“No, I don’t.” And maybe that’s his own fault. “I really don’t.”

Shigehiro turns away. They’re in Kuroko’s Kyoto apartment, the sight familiar and strange at once. Shigehiro walks over to the couch and slumps down. “I don’t even know if I care anymore.”

“Ogiwara-kun…”

Shigehiro stares up at Kuroko, waiting for him to finish that sentence. But he doesn’t. He just keeps standing there, perfectly still. He could be a marble statue.

Shigehiro closes his eyes.

He wants answers, but he doesn’t have the stomach for them right now.

Kuroko gets him dinner and then leaves. Shigehiro eats the meal, without tasting a single thing. He takes a hot shower, letting the scalding water beat down on him for what feels like hours. It doesn’t wash away the feeling that still clings to his skin. Shame. And that lingering sense of dread that wouldn’t leave him ever since he laid eyes on Akashi.

He should worry about Kuroko and where he went, but he doesn’t. Something’s broken, but Shigehiro can’t quite say what it is. He goes to bed, but sleep won’t come. Every time he closes his eyes he sees Akashi. His face, lifeless and perfect and irrevocably dead.

After an hour of tossing and turning, Shigehiro gets up again. He pads into the dark living room, moonlight streaming in through the window. He makes himself a cup of tea, not bothering to turn on the lights. He walks back into the living room once he’s done, standing in front of the window to gaze outside.

Nothing makes sense anymore. Or maybe it has always been like that. Shigehiro takes a sip from his tea. It’s cold. He hadn’t even noticed how much time has passed.

_ I killed them _ .

Just like that. Just like the first time they met. All of this chasing and running around to try and find the stones. How much faster it would have been if Kuroko had just… taken them. Without Shigehiro’s meddling, without him trying to anchor Kuroko’s humanity.

And yet.

“You knew, didn’t you?” He says to the empty room that is no longer empty.

“You have to be more specific.” Sesha says from her perch on the back of the couch.

“Everything, I’d say.” Shigehiro turns around. “Akashi being cryo-frozen, Kuroko  _ indulging _ me.” He makes a gesture with his hand to encompass the room. “How much else have I lied to myself about?”

“Only one thing,” Sesha says. Her eyes seem like quicksilver in the pale light of the moon. Ever changing, mercurial. “That what you are doing is pointless.” She slips from her perch as silent as a shadow and walks over to him. “That you regret it.”

“Why would I lie about that?”

“Because you want to regret it. Because regretting it absolves you of all responsibility.” Sesha comes to stand next to him. “Because then you can turn your back and walk away.”

Shigehiro swallows. “Is it worth it?” He asks, has to ask.

Sesha stares out the window. Her pupils shift and shift and shift. Somewhere far away galaxies are born and lost in the space of a heartbeat. “I don’t know,” she says softly. “That is something only you can answer.” Finally, she turns to face him. “Don’t give up now,” she whispers.

“Why?” The question comes out before he can stop himself. It feels like a heavy boulder rolls from his tongue, his weight infinitely lighter now that it’s out in the open.

Sesha looks back at the view outside - not the urban streets of Kyoto but the endless stretch of ocean and a starry sky above.

Maybe, he thinks, this is a dream.

Sesha’s voice turns dark and ominous as she responds, “because if we fail, Kuroko will swallow the world.” It feels like somewhere at the core of the earth a large gong has been sounded, its reverberations trembling through the ground, through Shigehiro, even through the sky itself.

He wakes in his bed, feeling chilled to the bone.

The next morning Shigehiro makes breakfast. He’s not hungry, but he has a feeling that he will need the energy. Outside, the world is oblivious as it wakes to another dawn. But something has changed. Something outside his perception and yet he can feel it as clearly as the sun on his skin. Something has irrevocably changed.

Kuroko doesn’t show, not while the food cooks, not when Shigehiro is eating not after, when he washes the dishes.

But as soon as Shigehiro puts away the last plate, Kuroko slips into his view. As if he had waited for precisely this moment.

“You waited for me.” Shigehiro doesn’t make it a question.

Kuroko’s face is a mask, cool and smooth and indifferent, but his voice is soft and almost kind. “You deserve to see the end of the road.”

Is he worried? Afraid? Does he feel anything about what is about to happen? What does it mean to him that his dream is finally about to come true? Kuroko reaches out his hand and Shigehiro takes it. One last time, he thinks. Kuroko’s hands are cold.

As they always are.

Sesha awaits them. The dress she wears is pure white, no trace of the usual burst of colorful that piles on top of her head. Shigehiro doesn’t comment on the change, and in turn, she doesn’t mention the formality inherent in his button-up shirt and black pants.

It feels like this is appropriate.

She smiles at Shigehiro and he nods back in greeting.

Kuroko drops the sack with the stones on Sesha’s counter, where she sits, for once not lounging in her usual chair. “What now?” There is no friendliness in his voice. Shadows twirl and dance under Kuroko’s skin. Ever since yesterday, his void seems to be restless.

Sesha’s eyes are static as she responds, “bring the body, offer the  _ Nyama _ and  _ pray _ .”

Kuroko’s face darkens. Not by expression, but by real shadows. For a moment his eyes appear all dark, like black holes that have suddenly opened on his skin. His face clears as fast as it had darkened.

“There is no precedence,” Shesha says. She’s angry, Shigehiro can tell.  Something brewing under the surface, a storm that threatens to strike any moment. The only thing he can’t figure out is the why. “You have seen how one stone works. You don’t need me to figure out the rest.”

Kuroko picks up the sack again. Inside, the stones clink together like bell chimes. “There is no guarantee.” He says, and this one isn’t a question either.

“No,” Sesha responds, “There isn’t.”

“What did you see?” Shigehiro dares to ask.

She looks at him with all the intensity of infinity. Her eyes are pools of iridescent nebulae, no trace of iris or pupil or even the white at the edges. Maybe she carries a void in her too. Maybe her heart has been swallowed by time, just as Kuroko’s has been swallowed by nothingness.

It is as though looking through a lens of intense magnification. It is as though he can see the fabric of time itself. Past, present and future. It makes no sense to him, the single threads tangled up into a mess of intertwining streams, but he can grasp the enormity of it all. And even there he can see the tangles and snares left by Kuroko’s meddling. Blips of darkness in streams of light. Threads cut prematurely.

Life, so much life simply lost.

And in between, there is truth, too. Truth too big for Shigehiro’s mind to grasp, but he beholds it all the same. Because it is impossible to look away.

And maybe there is something waiting to swallow him whole as well. Let it be grief, he thinks. Let his heart be swallowed by grief and despair. Let him be the one who  _ feels  _ the price for their deeds..

Maybe, Shigehiro thinks, this isn’t just a resurrection. Maybe this is a funeral too. 

And Sesha says nothing.

It means something that the weaver of time can’t see a future in which Akashi Seijuurou rises. It has to mean something, but, Shigehiro thinks bitterly, no one cares. The path has led here and so they will keep walking until the edge of the cliff. And even beyond that.

Sesha cedes her space to them and ceases herself into the room of time to watch the darkness for what, Shigehiro can’t tell. Dust motes dance in light without a source as Kuroko clears the central space. Sesha told him something, before she passed through the door, told him something that was not meant for Shigehiro’s ears.

Shigehiro feels like crying. This is the cumulative result of all their efforts, but it feels like walking to his grave.

“So this is it then?” He asks Kuroko, as he lies out the stones. Akashi is still sleeping in the void, clueless about what is to happen. Blissfully ignorant and dead. Shigehiro envies him.

“Of course.” Kuroko says it like he means it. Shigehiro has no doubt that he does. For all the doubts and fears Shigehiro has, for Kuroko this, at least, comes without questions.

“Even though it could end up not being enough?”

“Even then.” A shadow flickers through Kuroko’s eyes like a cloud passing the sun.

And maybe now is finally the time for answers. Here, at the end and the beginning of it all.

“Why is it so important to you?” Tetsuya’s look could cut through glass. “I don’t mean the obvious reason. I know you love him. Hell, your love to him is the only thing that hasn’t changed since we met.” Even as he says it, Shigehiro wonders, if it’s truly love. “You don’t care, and yet here we are. Because there is one thing you care about. Why?”

But he knows the answer, doesn’t he? Had known ever since Kuroko told him about Aomine, since he met Momoi himself.

“I owe it to him.” Tetsuya says tonelessly.

He thinks of Momoi. “Even if he comes back incomplete?”

Tetsuya flinches. “He might not remember what happened, but his soul will be intact.”

_ How do you know that? _ Shigehiro wants to ask, but the words won’t come. This is the one hope Tetsuya has refused to let go off. Shigehiro can’t shatter that. Even after everything, he can’t be this cruel-

“And what if he doesn’t remember?” Shigehiro asks softly. “What if all the things that make up Akashi Seijuurou’s personality are gone? What if he never remembers? He may be alive, but he has no memories.  _ He doesn’t even know who  _ you _ are. _ Is it still worth it?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Even if he ends up being thrust in a life that is not his? How long has it been? He’ll be a stranger no matter where he goes. Years have passed, the world has changed.  _ Akashi _ might have changed. He might not even want you by his side.”

Why does he argue? What’s it to him?

“It doesn’t matter.” Tetsuya repeats. He even seems to believe it.

“And what if he  _ does _ remember? Would he look at you, the way you are now and still love you? Would he  _ want _ to?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

And it’s true, Shigehiro realizes. This is not make-belief or hoping. It truly doesn’t matter. Because Kuroko’s spent the past decades with no other objective than to bring Akashi Seijuurou back to life.  And along the way, it never mattered what happened to Kuroko, what a monster he would become. Because this was always only about Akashi Seijuurou.

“Why?” Shigehiro wonders out loud. “What makes Akashi’s life so valuable? Why does it take so many stones just for a chance to resurrect him?”

Something seems to have broken open in Tetsuya’s eyes - a chasm. It is a gaping maw, so deep it seems to suck Shigehiro inside. The void that had always lived in Kuroko, since his birth. The void had always been there, but it had taken  _ something _ to wake it and something more for Kuroko to surrender his heart to it.

“Because  _ I _ killed him.”

Oh.

_ Oh _ .


	24. Tetsuya XIV

Shao Qing’s hideout could not have been more pretentious – it was a temple. Granted, the building hadn’t been used for religious purposes in over 200 years, but its ancient pride still held steady. It had been renovated multiple times, modernized and was now housing a café at ground level.  It was frequented by spiritually oriented people and Tetsuya afforded a second to guess it also served as a meeting place for Shao Qing’s cult.

Thinking that, he felt compelled to say, “If anyone would have told me that one day I’ll be hunting down a cult, I would have… actually I don’t know what I would have done then. What happened to good old drug rings? Illegal spell trading? Human trafficking? Why a cult?” 

Somehow this amused Akashi. “A cult could easily encompass all these things.”

Tetsuya suppressed a sigh. Aomine had deciphered the disk and it had clearly pointed to this place, but it had not offered a date. For all he knew, Shao Qing wasn’t even home. The café was even open to business and very clearly in high demand. This could be the perfect front for illegal activities or it could just be an ordinary café. Tetsuya wasn’t sure what he should hope for.

Aomine had offered his help and so had Kagami, after Aomine undoubtedly contacted him. Tetsuya had turned them both down.  He’d dragged them in too deeply already. Kagami had aggravated his injury during Akashi’s rescue and Aomine deserved his peace after everything he’d been through.

The same could be said for him and Akashi, but Tetsuya ignored his own hypocrisy. This was his fight. His and Akashi’s, and together they needed to bring it to a close.

They approached the café, appearing to all the world like a couple out on a date. It was a relatively sunny day, considering the bad weather they had to suffer through during the last weeks. And if there hadn’t been so much at stake, Tetsuya thought, he would have definitely enjoyed this date with Akashi.

The café’s interior had kept much of the temple’s original design, while also maintaining a welcoming and cozy atmosphere. It was quite the feat, Tetsuya thought as they passed a grim looking statue of a lion.

Akashi pulled out a chair for Tetsuya and then took his coat to hang it up. It was just sweet enough to make Tetsuya blush. There were couples everywhere and each of them was absorbed in their own little world. It was quite idyllic, really.

A waitress approached them a moment later to take their order. Tetsuya hadn’t even had time to pick up a menu. Akashi smiled at the waitress and asked her what cakes they had in that day. She went on to list them and Tetsuya quickly scanned his menu for something he would like. In the end he settled on oolong tea and after a moment’s consideration he ordered a slice of vanilla sponge cake. Akashi only ordered tea.

“You did that on purpose,” Tetsuya accused, but he could scarcely hide his smile.

Akashi lifted his shoulders in innocent confusion. “Did what?”

“Ask the waitress for cake.”

“I did not know they had something vanilla-flavored,” Akashi said, clearly amused.

The smiles came easily with Akashi, Tetsuya thought. He was smiling now and could not have stopped if he wanted to. It was almost too easy to forget this was not a date.

“But you did know I needed some more time to decide.”

“Possibly.”

Tetsuya was still smiling when the waitress returned with their drinks. He felt a bit foolish but he couldn’t help it. He used his tea as an excuse to smother his smile. Akashi had taken to watch their surroundings so Tetsuya ventured to do the same.

Most tables were taken, primarily by couples, but there was the occasional groups of friends as well. None of the guests seemed suspicious, so Tetsuya switched his focus to the staff. They were efficient, that much was glaringly obvious. As soon as new guests had settled at a table, a waiter or waitress already approached them. It went the same for orders. Tetsuya observed a couple a few tables away, the woman was just reaching for the menu and already a waiter appeared at her side.

He was broken out of his observations by the arrival of his cake. In the light of everything else, that had almost taken too long, Tetsuya thought. But considering how delicious the cake was, it was very much worth the wait.

This was a nice place all things considered. Tetsuya would have liked to come back here again. He stared at the other patrons, people ignorant to the threat that lurked behind these walls. He wondered if this perfection was symptomatic of the foul magic he suspected at work here.

“Ah,” Akashi said and put down his cup. Two men approached their table, men in suits that would have been invisible anywhere else but stood out in the casual flair of the café like a sore thumb. Other than that, they were as nondescript as they came. Black suit, white shirt, gray tie and almost identical hairstyles. A far cry from the ritualistic cultists they had encountered before.

Tetsuya took one more bite from his cake, before he too set down his fork.

“He is expecting you.” One of them said. Neither his voice nor his expression gave anything away.

“Of course,” Akashi said smoothly and stood. He gestured for Tetsuya to follow as if this were a totally normal occurrence.

None of the other guests took note of them and as soon as they had gained some distance to their table a waiter appeared and quickly cleared their tableware. Something told Tetsuya that they wouldn't be paying for their food and drinks.

They were led towards the back of the café and through a door labeled staff. Behind the door a corridor lined with doors awaited but the men led them up a narrow flight of stairs squeezed into an alcove, one in the front, the other following behind. It was narrow, enough so that the man in front of Tetsuya had to angle his shoulders slightly sideways not to get stuck in the narrow space.

They passed by the second floor – a glimpse of yet another corridor with doors – and then they reached the third floor landing. Tetsuya stepped out behind the first man onto an identical corridor and then through one of the doors lining it.

This was… very much not what Tetsuya had expected. Not to say he had known what to expect. But certainly not…this.

They’d entered a room, a room far larger than it had any right to be. And even so, it seemed to be more a hall than an actual room, as it had many doors and even a large set of double staircases at one end, leading onto a mezzanine that was lined with even more doors and overlooked the hall. The hall was also completely empty.

Spatial magic. Like the room underwater. Space where there should be none. Tetsuya swallowed. Akashi’s hand glanced his shoulder and Tetsuya forced his feet to move after their guide who had set out on a brisk pace.

They followed again, through the large hall and up the stairs – marble, polished to a shine and a banister glinting like gold. It was cold to the touch, like metal would be and Tetsuya suddenly felt small and insignificant. None of this seemed as though it could be real. But even as he touched it, he could only feel the solid cold of metal and reality.

Akashi took his hand as they reached the top of the stairs. Instantly he felt calm, grounded and Tetsuya squeezed his fingers to show his gratitude.

They were led through another door and a corridor and then more doors and Tetsuya lost track of the many twists and turns until they were finally led before a grand double door, wood carved into an image, but it opened before he could make sense of it. Behind it lay a throne room.

  1. Throne. Room.



The kind you’d expect in a medieval fantasy show, hanging drapes, polished wood floor and a throne the size of a small car. Tetsuya had the very strong urge to turn around and walk out. Never look back and forget this ever happened. 

But of course, they were here for a reason.

On the throne sat a man with all the air of a bored ruler, or how Tetsuya would expect a bored ruler to sit, sprawled on a throne that was too big for any human being. He was large, bulky in built, but despite the muscles rippling quite obvious under his suit, it was his aura that was the most commanding. Two men stood on either side of the throne, wearing the familiar robes of the cultists and the shaved heads with engraved tattoos. In between them, the man on the throne seemed oddly misplaced, with his neat business suit.

Their guides approached halfway through the room and then fell to their knees in unison.

Tetsuya ignored their obeisance and stepped past them. “Shao Qing, I presume?” The men around the throne stirred, stepping closer as if to protect.

“I’d have you kneel, but my sources tell me that would not go over well.” Shao Qing said in a bored sounding voice. He had short-cropped black hair and a face cut in aristocratic features.

“Magic,” Akashi murmured as he strode past Tetsuya, ghosting a finger along his wrist as he went. They had agreed on a loose plan, before coming here, but since they had little idea what to expect it was mostly improvising. Tetsuya supposed it made this whole thing a terrible idea - walking into the lion’s den with eyes closed and hoping they wouldn’t lose a limb.

_ It’ll be all right,  _ Akashi had said and then kissed him.  _ I’ll protect you _ .

“You need only ask,” Akashi said smoothly and then dropped to his knees, bowing his head into a gesture of reverence.

Shao Qing’s bored mask slipped some and he showed a moment of dimmed surprise, before he pulled his mouth into an exaggerated yawn. “Stand. I do not value false deference.”

“And that’s why you would have made us kneel forcefully? If only you could?” Tetsuya was standing a few paces away from Akashi, who was almost right in front of the throne, still kneeling. “Because you do not value false deference?”

Shao Qing eyed him for a long moment, before he broke out into laughter. The kind that was deep and booming and held back nothing. “Ah, but false and forced are two different things are they not? It would be different if your fear of me forced your kneel, but this,” He gestured at Akashi, “it turns my mood sour.”

Akashi stood up smoothly, but remained at his close proximity. “Then I guess we can move right to business, can we?” He said with a pleasant ring to his voice. Even though, the subtle undertone of threat rang clear.

Shao Qing leaned forward, resting his elbow on his knees, as if Akashi was a specimen that deserved further scrutiny. “There is no business between us, except your death.” He said calmly. “The only reason why you are still standing is because I have yet to figure out how to go about it. His lips twitched faintly.

“Try a rocket launcher,” Tetsuya said disinterested.

Shao Qing clicked his tongue. “And waste all that magical energy?” He looked at Akashi with a sickening sort of hunger. “I’d say not.” He raised two fingers, almost casually and on cue, hidden doors sprung open in the wall behind him. Men in robes and tattoos poured out.

“Of course,” Tetsuya muttered under his breath. What was next, trap doors?

“I should thank you though, you saved me much time by coming here yourselves. If only you had brought that brute friend of yours.” He eyed Tetsuya with a regretful expression. “Such potential.”

“Is that what happened to Kise’s sister?” He asked, louder this time. “You extracted her magical energy?” The words made him feel sick to his stomach.

“Who?” Shao Qing’s face betrayed only disinterested boredom. Tetsuya clenched his fists at his side. “The girl you held hostage to make Kise do your bidding. His sister.”

“Ah,  _ her. _ I disposed of her, after dear Kise lost his usefulness. I gather you had something to do with that?”

“You bastard.” Tetsuya felt rage bubble in his chest.

Shao Qing waved his hand. “Apprehend them.” The men made to move in on them.

Tetsuya exchanged a hasty glance with Akashi. They needed more time. “Aren’t you curious how we found you?”

“Not really,” Shao Qing waved a dismissive hand. “Whatever lead you here will be of no use to anyone else. Now stop dallying.” The men surrounded them, or would have but Akashi slammed his hands on the floor and it erupted under their feet. Tetsuya stumbled backwards, the ground under his feet bucking like a wild horse.

“RUN,” Akashi snapped at him, only a moment of his concentration to spare. Their eyes met. Tetsuya had his mouth half open, intent on insisting he stay and fight, but the words died away when he saw the expression in Akashi’s eyes. A body - one of the attackers, struggling to keep his footing - barreled into him and Tetsuya lost his footing. He came down hard, but was thrown up immediately by the still rampaging floor.

Tetsuya struggled to his feet, dodging bodies and half-assed attacks at his direction. Akashi was in the thick of it, drawing the attention of everyone as though-

As though he was doing it intentionally, to draw them away from Tetsuya. Shao Qing was nowhere to be seen, gone as though swallowed by the walls. Tetsuya turned and bolted.

And even as he ran, vowing to find and end Shao QIng, he felt like a coward.

The building was collapsing. There was no thought to spare about the people in the café, the innocent that could be caught up in this. Tetsuya’s breathing came harshly, his lungs were burning and even now, as he was resting behind a collapsed desk, he knew the break would be short.

Shao Qing’s men were looking for him. Whatever havoc Akashi had wrecked, whatever he was still wrecking, it had not been enough to draw their attention away from Tetsuya sufficiently.

Footsteps neared. Tetsuya squeezed his eyes shut. The structure was collapsing, but that had no bearing on the spatial distortions that trapped them in a seemingly infinite space. He had run for what felt like hours, but still he had not found a trace of Shao Qing or an escape route.

Worse, he had no idea where Akashi was or if he was all right. Judging by the faint tremors that ran through the building every now and then, the blasts of distant explosions, he had to still be alive somewhere - fighting.

Tetsuya sneaked a glance around his cover. The room he was in might have been an office once, filled with desks and stationary and a whole bunch of wrecked computer terminals. It was a stark contrast to the dominating medieval theme in most of the other rooms.

It was also slowly filling with three cultists, their steps slowly, carefully as they picked their way inside. Each held a weapon, an axe, a baseball bat, a sword. No guns, never guns, but he could not have said why. Tetsuya hastily pulled back, but it was too late. A blast - magic- hit his cover and he scrambled away. The magic couldn’t hurt him, but the disintegrating desk could. He paid the chips of wood no heed, even as they cut open the skin on his face. Getting out of here alive had priority.

He pulled a knife - his last one. Fighting, he had learned the hard way, was harder in here. They were prepared for him and his immunity to magic. He still had an edge - melee combat skills he’d acquired in long hours from Aomine and later Kagami and that most people were simply unaware of - but he was just one. And he was tired.

Tetsuya killed the first cultist by slashing his throat. He ought to feel something at that. But he didn’t. Everything seemed to lie under a haze, like his emotions had been dampened by the constant adrenaline and stress. The second cultist slammed something large and wooden in his side - a baseball bat? - and Tetsuya staggered against the wall. Breathing hurt when he came up again. But breathing had hurt for a while now for different reasons so Tetsuya simply weathered it and continued.

He dodged the next strike and drove his knife into an unprotected belly. They were trained in magic and not close combat. The only reason he was still alive.

He had wondered for a while now if this all had been a trap. Set up to lure them in and dispose of them. Many of the rooms he had encountered seemed old, abandoned, their use no longer of value. This did not seem like an active headquarter of an active cult society. More like an abandoned factory, once glorious in its use and now silent and decaying. The ideal place to lure people and kill.

Magic hit the ceiling above him and plaster rained down, moments before the part of the ceiling collapsed entirely. Tetsuya dropped and rolled and then rolled again. An axe came down where his first roll had brought him only a moment before. It wasn’t instincts that drove him, not the way Aomine and Kagami were driven by their animalistic nature. He moved because a part of him just  _ knew _ he had to, now or he would be dead.

That knowledge was new. But he had not the time to examine it as he dodged another axe strike, his legs protesting, his arms protesting, every fiber of his being protesting the motions he forced on them. He struck like a viper. The same knowledge that guided his defense, also guided his attack.

The cultist, Tetsuya’s knife protruding from his chest, stared at him wide-eyed, something more than shock in his eyes. Fear. He died before Tetsuya could make sense of that.

It went like that in the next room. And the next. Tetsuya had long stopped cataloguing the bruising his body took. If he’d had the mind for it - and the time - he’d realized that he should have long been out for the count. But somehow, even as new hurts were added, the old ones seemed to just fade in his perception. They hurt, but it was far off, like someone else’s pain.

Tetsuya lost track of how many rooms he had passed. One after another like an endless stream of twisted ideas and dreams. A room full of mirrors, a salon decked out entirely in red, a room that was entirely white, a room with a ceiling so low Tetsuya had to crawl. And on and on it went.

Finally, he entered a room that seemed to be the last. The floor was bare stone so were the walls. There was a short set of stairs at one end that led up to a sort of dais. On the dais stood a throne, this one simpler in design than the last. Behind the throne, ritualistic weapons were mounted on display.

“Ah, you finally found your way here.” Shao Qing said with faint amusement. “I was getting impatient.”

Tetsuya blinked. His vision was getting blurry. His limbs were heavy and unwilling to cooperate.

“Where is he?” Tetsuya’s tongue felt like a giant slug in his mouth. It twisted against the words he was trying to form.

“Who?”

Tetsuya pulled his face into a frown. It seemed to take him forever to do so. He couldn’t remember. Why was he even here? He couldn’t remember. There was an ocean of black in his mind that swallowed his thoughts just as he formed them.

“The amount of poison gas it took to subdue you to this point is staggering. But I suppose whatever grants you immunity to magic must have a hand in this as well.”

Tetsuya thought he was blinking, but he couldn’t quite tell if his lids actually moved. Something thunked and it took him a long time to realize he had collapsed to his knees. His mind was sluggish. The man… the man on the throne was talking, but the words were a blur. Who was he? Tetsuya knew he knew him, but he couldn’t remember.

“Where…?”

He didn’t recognize the voice that spoke. Only when the other man spoke again, did he realize it was his own voice. Right. He had to find something. Or someone… It was just so hard to focus. But he needed to. He needed to focus. He had to. Or else…

Darkness lapped at his mind like waves, the ocean rising and reaching towards his conscience. His vision cleared. The buzz in his ears abated and he could he hear the other’s voice clearly again.

“…cooperate if we have you.” Shao Qing - that was his name - was smiling. “Not that you’ll notice much of it.”He waved a hand. From somewhere -Tetsuya could not discern from where- a man appeared. He held a small box in his hands. “You should be honored. Your sacrifice will not only change the world, it will also pave the way for the future.”

The approaching man seemed to sway. No, it was Tetsuya who was swaying. He sucked in air, forced it into his lungs. He needed to clear his head. The man opened the box. No, he needed to let the ocean swallow him. In the box was a small syringe, filled with an ominous milky liquid.

Tetsuya’s fingers twitched. He’d had a knife. Where had it gone?

“This won’t hurt. Much. It’s like going to sleep. Or so I’ve been told. You are tired, aren’t you?”Shao Qing’s voice was soothing, a pleasant lilt that wove a net of quiet around his thoughts. He  _ was _ tired. It would be nice to fall asleep. He felt the gentle caress of the blackness in his mind. It whispered.

The man grabbed his arm. Something smooth and cool grazed his fingertips. He wove his fingers around it. A needle pricked his skin. Tetsuya flung out his arm and let go.

The knife sailed through the air and hit true. Shao Qing’s eyes were wide with surprise as he slowly, slowly stared down at the knife hilt protruding from his chest. The world seemed to have frozen. Slowly, from underneath his skin black marks rose on Shao Qing like tattooed vines snaking up and down every patch of visible skin and probably beneath clothing as well.

They alit into almost blinding white light, like a fuse lit until his entire body seemed to glow incandescent. The light vanished abruptly. What was left behind was a burned shell of a man, smoke rising lazily from the charred skin.

The syringe hit the floor with a high sound and then shattered, spilling its contents. “It’s all over,” the man whispered. “you ruined it.” He seemed to be lost for a moment.“What have you done?”

“I’ve done you a favor,” Tetsuya bit out. Where was Akashi? He needed to find him. He needed…

“What have you done?” The man repeated furiously. He yanked at Tetsuya’s hair. He shouted again but his voice thundered in Tetsuya’s ears too loudly to be discerned. Something cold bit into his stomach. He blinked. Red invaded his vision but was overtaken by angry lashes of black.

He looked down. A knife stuck from his belly. A knife with a hand on its hilt that jerked upwards as he looked, driving the knife upwards into his-

His vision went black.

He was sinking. There was no light, only darkness but he knew he was sinking all the same. And that meant he was dying.

Tetsuya felt it dragging him down, the heavy weight of impending death. But he couldn’t leave it like that. There were things he wanted to do. Things he needed to do. Akashi, Akashi was waiting for him.

There were whispers in his ear but he didn’t listen. 

There was something at the edge of his consciousness, a light. Tetsuya reached for it with all his might. Tried to grasp it with his fingers, with some idea of his corporal body, but to no avail. He tried to reach for it with his mind but to the same result. He cast around in himself for something, anything that could help him.

The whisper grew louder until he could no longer ignore it. It drew his attention, away from the light and towards something he abstractly knew was  _ inside _ . 

And there it was a pool of it so deep he couldn’t grasp it. It felt old and new alike, like it had been there the whole time but only now did he grow aware of it. The ocean in his mind. The sense of his surroundings that he’d experienced earlier. This was the answer. Tetsuya reached out again.

His descent slowed. But it wasn’t enough. He was still sinking, slower now but inevitably. He had devoured the light, but it had not been enough.

It  _ couldn’t _ end like this. He threw out his mind or whatever it was to feel for more light, more energy, but there was none. He was thrashing now, against the darkness of death that engulfed him, reaching in every direction. And at long last he grasped at something. Another light, brighter than the first, so brilliant it would have blinded him, if he had looked at it with his eyes. How had he missed this until now? _.  _ He focused his energy on it, drew it in and was almost overtaken by its intensity. It was brilliant, sparkling energy. He devoured it hungrily until nothing was left and finally, the darkness that had swallowed him lightened.

The whispers grew into shouts.

He came to with a jolt. His mind was wide awake and more than that, he was  _ aware _ . Of his surroundings like he’d never been before. Aware of himself and his relative position in the universe. He pushed himself up. His clothes were a mess, but his body was filled with an unfamiliar strength.

He looked around. Shao Qing’s body was slumped on the throne, a charred husk. Next to him laid the man who’d tried and killed him a pale form. Dead. Tetsuya knew that without checking. He was dead. The first light he had devoured. Not light, but energy. Life.

And there, a few steps away lay a second body. The second source.

Tetsuya stared at it for a long moment, uncomprehending.  

Dead.

It was impossible.

Dead.

It was Akashi.

_ Dead. _

He wrapped himself around the body, trying to pour some of the energy he had absorbed back into it. Tried and failed. Akashi - no, he could not think of this as Akashi, it would  _ ruin _ him - remained cold and unmoving.

He could not stand the sight of it. The remainder. He swallowed it into the deep silence that had taken over his heart. The black ocean that now lived in his soul and mind.

And then he let the silence swallow him.

He found a witch. He found a shaman. A witch doctor. He lost track of how many trails he followed. None came up with an answer. But they led him somewhere at least. They led him to a time weaver..

“Help you,” she said and he could see galaxies collide in her eyes. “Now, why would I do that?”

There was a quiet in his mind that was disturbed by her voice. Like stars rattling around in his mind, a clamor he couldn’t lock out. Something stirred in his chest, underneath the waves of black ocean and endless silence.

He took her hand and laid it on his chest. He tore a hole into the black ocean in his mind and let her see.

It was a bargain. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Sesha helps him resurrect Akashi Seijuurou and in return Kuroko Tetsuya does not devour the universe.


	25. Seijuurou - final

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, final chapter and what a bumpy road it's been. This is probably the story I did the most research for and which caused me the biggest headache. But now we're finally done, exactly one year after I posted the first chapter. Thank you to all of my readers, the silent ones and those who left me comments and even those who chanced a glance and decided it wasn't for you. I appreciate that you gave this admittedly very experimental piece a chance and I hope you enjoyed the ride.   
> It's been a pleasure.

Akashi Seijuurou dreams. 

It is a long dream full of darkness and quiet whispers. He does not mind the dream. He can’t understand the whispers, but he can feel their warmth, the warmth that buoys him in the darkness, wraps around him like a cocoon. It is darkness, but it is not sinister.

There are distant thoughts swirling through his mind but they do not belong to him. They do not concern him. He is at peace. He dreams and that is as it should be.

And then he wakes.

Red light bleeds into the darkness, cold invades his cocoon of warmth. He fights it, clings to the darkness of his dream, but he is dragged away from it into sharp, painful awareness.

The first thing he’s aware of is the pain of it. He can feel it down to the very core of his body, every little muscle twitch, neurons firing, molecules breaking and reforming. He can feel it slither through him as his body wakes - not from slumber - but from death, every little piece that was broken reforming into something whole.

The thought shocks him. He was dead. He died.

And then the memories flare to life.

_ Seijuurou’s power is disintegrating, he can feel it. It’s rippling, unraveling at the seams where he strains to widen its berth, its influence. He has torn away at the fabrication of the house, but the spells that hold it together are intricate, woven into each other with countless threads. He’s tangled up in them and with every attempt at breaking them his power frays more. _

_ Maybe if he could wake its true form. But no. That part of him has gone to sleep. He can’t rely on it, not anymore. So he holds on and fights against the spells that are woven into the house, fights against the spells that are hurled at him by the cultists, fights against their weapons, their ceaseless attacks. _

_ He’ll do it gladly too, if it buys Kuroko time to escape. _

_ This is not a trap, if it were they’d both be dead already, but it’s something close enough. It is constructed to detain him, to at least halt him and so it takes Seijuurou too much time until he finally breaks free. Dead bodies are scattered after him and the house is held together by threads of spider silk magic and little else. _

_ Seijuurou ghosts a hand along the wall and reality unravels in its wake. The labyrinthic cluster of rooms unfurls into a straight path. He follows it. Panic swells in his chest the nearer to the end he comes. _

_ Kuroko is here, close by, he can feel the ripples of his presence in the fabric of reality. There is a current in the magic around him, like the furthest edges of a maelstrom. The power he senses underneath is both familiar and utterly, utterly foreign. _

_ Seijuurou runs. Something is reaching into him now, curling around his center with probing intents, a life line and Seijuurou wraps his mind around it tenderly for it is familiar too. He lets it guide his way. Rooms fuse together in a blur. He takes one step and passes what seems like miles. Reality breaks and mends and it is not his doing. _

_ He comes upon the final room. His heart has the time to give but one aching heartbeat as he takes in the sight, as the foreign power explodes into darkness and pain. Kuroko on the floor, gutted with a knife. _

_ The thread of power that curls around his core latches on and Seijuurou realizes what it is too late. _

_ Then his mind is brutally, violently extinguished. _

Seijuurou opens his eyes. It takes a moment to adjust to having a body again. It takes an even longer moment to reconcile the image his eyes provide with the much more layered impression that his ability supplies him with.

But as the room’s history and layout unfolds in his mind, his focus is entirely drawn to one thing and one thing only.

“Kuroko,” he says.

The sound of his own voice is startling, but even that fades in the face of Kuroko’s reaction. He makes a low sound, like a startled bird and the pain it transmits wrenches at Seijuurou’s heart. He ignores the implications of that - his heart had stopped and killed him with it.

“Akashi,” Kuroko’s voice breaks on his name. There’s emotion on his face, a complex cluster of pain, fear and longing and in the face of it, Seijuurou allows the fractured memories swirling in his mind come together to form a whole.

“How long?” he asks in lieu of the  _ why _ and the  _ how _ that burn his throat.

Kuroko swallows and takes a step backwards as though hit. His eyes shine wet with tears. Something has broken open his senses tell him, but he can’t say yet what.

“I… uh, I should leave you to it.” There’s a second presence there, one that Seijuurou had overlooked until now. A man, a stranger. He’s taller than the two of them, but his hunched posture makes him seem insignificant. His face is pinched in a slight frown and he seems utterly ill at ease at being here. Seijuurou reads his name with afferent ease.

Ogiwara Shigehiro. Another puzzle piece slots into its place.

“Stay,” Seijuurou commands. Ogiwara, caught in an attempt to turn away, freezes and then slowly faces him, face still apprehensive but also curious. He looks young, but he’s not. He’s  _ old _ .

Seijuurou swivels his attention back to Kuroko. Slowly he uncurls his mind, reaches out for his presence. He glances it and it almost sears a hole into his mind. Another puzzle piece finds its rightful place.

Seijuurou ghosts his fingers over the wall, uncurls all the secrets layered into the worn wood. Feels the presence and manifestation of time. The last piece falls into place.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he says wearily. And yet, as he traces the scars Kuroko has left in the fabrics of reality he can’t help the elation he feels. He did not mind dying if it was so that Kuroko could live. But to have Kuroko’s love endure long enough to bring him back, he’d never thought he’d be gifted with something this precious. “You shouldn’t have,” he echoes, but now he sounds awed and maybe a tiny bit helpless and grateful.

“I owed it to you,” Kuroko says evenly. The tears seem stuck to his eyelashes, unwilling to fall. Seijuurou’s fingers hurt with the intensity with which he wants to wipe them away. His heart hurts.

“No, you didn’t,” Seijuurou says softly. He takes a step closer and then stops as he sees Kuroko tense up. He looks as though he has been hit. “But I am grateful all the same.” He turns his head and looks at Ogiwara. “To both of you.”

Ogiwara makes a sound, a hum maybe. He grins, but it is bare of mirth. “It was nothing,” he says. Seijuurou senses the pain underneath. Death, it seems has honed the already sharp edges of his ability. He feels for the presence of his other self, just to see, but he already knows it is not there. Some things cannot be saved.

Seijuurou takes another step. This time Kuroko doesn’t move away. “I’m sorry,” Seijuurou murmurs, “that I left you.”

Kuroko breathes, but it catches in his throat. His eyes seem to flicker and then he launches forward and into Seijuurou’s arms. He wraps him up and presses his face into his chest. Kuroko is saying something but the words are muffled into tears and fabric.

“Tell me,” Seijuurou says without turning his head. Kuroko is shaking, but the force with which he holds on to Seijuurou does even more to betray his feelings.

Ogiwara sighs. “You won’t like it.”

Seijuurou thinks for a moment. He can feel the infinite space of  _ nothing _ that resides in Kuroko’s heart. Can feel it fray at the fringes of his powers if he comes to close, the sharp bite of it as it drags everything into oblivion. He’d known it was there, but now it is awake. He’d thought once that Kuroko would swallow the world if he could. Now he knows that he can.

“No,” he says “I won’t.”

Ogiwara sighs again. But he begins to tell their story all the same.

**Shigehiro XI**

Akashi is not what he expected him to be. He’d thought death would be noticeable. He’d imagined reanimated corpse in his more morbid musings, but even outside those he expected something unsettling, something not quite right in a too broad smile. He’d imagined a thousand iterations of tragedy. Instead he finds them both on the ground, Akashi kneeling with a curled up Kuroko in his arms.

Kuroko exhausted, sleeping,  _ sleeping _ , as if all his strength has drained from him now that the deed was done. And Akashi. Akashi looks radiant. Like he is imbued with power. Shigehiro had watched his face as he told the story, watched it for signs of disgust, anger or anything really, other than the pleasant tilt of his head and the faint smile of politely inclined interest.

There’d been a faint tightening around the brows when Shigehiro had explained the origins of the stones, even fainter sorrow, when Shigehiro had detailed the lives Kuroko had taken. But he hadn’t interrupted once. He had listened to every sordid detail of Shigehiro’s - of Kuroko’s - story, through all the pain and death and tragedy.

After, Shigehiro had felt exhausted to his bones.

He still does so he decides to follow Kuroko’s example and sleep.

Sesha is gone when they go looking for her. The room with the time window is just that - a room. No more shadows linger, no threads lay woven on the ground. What’s left is dust and memories, clinging to bare walls and dirt trod into uneven ground. 

Shigehiro feels something like grief, but it is overshadowed by the knowledge - the understanding - that this was always going to happen. Sesha had fulfilled her side of the bargain, now there is nothing left for her to do.

Still, Shigehiro wishes she’d have said goodbye to him.

Akashi touches the wall where the window had been and smiles. “Remarkable,” he murmurs and Shigehiro wants to yank his hand away. 

_ Don’t touch her grave _ , he thinks and yet he does not know why he thinks of a grave at all.

Time passes undaunted.

“Where will you go?” Kuroko’s voice is soft, quiet and unassuming. Behind his eyes the void lies sleeping. Shigehiro can see it’s shadow still, but with Akashi’s return something finally settled in Kuroko’s heart. The despair that drove him is gone completely.

Sometimes, Shigehiro thinks, he does not know Kuroko at all.

He shrugs.

“I don’t know.” He could lie and name a place, somewhere their travels hadn’t taken them, or some of the places he’d liked but they hadn’t been able to linger at. Maybe he could visit Momoi even and he knows he will, but right now, the truth is, he doesn’t know. 

Kuroko smiles. It’s small but warm and filled with a gentle affection that hurts almost physical. It is true affection, but it is rooted entirely in Akashi. “We would not mind your company,” Kuroko offers, not for the first time.

“I know,” Shigehiro says. He looks at Akashi, standing a few paces behind Kuroko. He looks vibrant and his smile is as real as Kuroko’s. “I know,” he says again. It is the truth, but that makes little difference. He has no goal, no aim to lead him. But for the first time in forever, the choice is his again. “Promise me one thing,” he says, louder this time to draw Akashi into the conversation. 

“Anything,” Kuroko says easily. Akashi quirks an eyebrow in amusement.

“If either of you dies again, promise me, the other won’t go off the deep end.”

Akashi just barely manages to hide a snort. Kuroko looks startled for a moment and then guilty. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “My quest has cost you dearly. I’m afraid I will never make up for that entirely.” He smiles ruefully. “I owe you a lot Ogiwara-kun. I can only hope that I will be able to repay even a fraction of that.” 

“There is no need for that,” Shigehiro says and means it. “I offered my help of my own free will. I do not regret it.” And he truly doesn’t. Despite the pain and the loss and all the dark, desperate moments, he does not regret it. The journey might have been dark, but it had allowed him to see so much of the world he would have otherwise remained ignorant of.

The things he learned, he would not miss them for the world.

And now that his path is finally his own, he can’t wait to see where it will lead him first.

~ fin


End file.
